Spring patience pays dividends

OWENSBORO, Ky. — To paraphrase Forrest Gump, spring is like a box of chocolate — you never know what you’re going to get.

“Being patient is the hardest thing in the world for farmers once we flip the calendar to April. Anytime from now forward when the soil conditions are barely right, they’re going to want to go and yet we need to be cautious,” said Tim Sickman, Nutrien Ag Solutions regional agronomy manager.

“We know that with corn, in particular, we like to be planting into a condition where we’ve got at least a 50-degree temperature at planting depth. It’s best if when we begin to plant that we not only are close to that 50-degree mark, but that we are looking at a forecast that suggests a warming trend so that when the seed is tucked in the ground we’d like to then see that soil temperature begin to accelerate and rise.

“Sitting on the sidelines is hard, but against the backdrop of all we’re dealing with I think it’s really going to pay dividends to exercise some patience. Watch that forecast carefully and try to be really smart about when we drop the planter in the ground.”

Fertility

When he began his career 47 years ago, Sickman said fertility conversations basically centered on nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. That’s changed with today’s high yield expectations.

“Not only are N, P and K important, but increasingly we’re having to supplement sulfur and zinc in our corn programs,” Sickman said.

“We’re finding that many of the micronutrients like boron, manganese, even copper and some others are presenting themselves as greater challenges and there’s a need to supplement them into our fertility programs.”

Heavy rains in part of Illinois and Indiana present another fertility concern, particularly for corn.

“A lot of anhydrous ammonia has been applied in northern Illinois. In the northern parts of Illinois and Indiana, you may have had a fair bit of anhydrous that went out last fall where that is an acceptable practice,” Sickman said.

“In the downstate areas of both those states, south of Interstate 70, we generally don’t recommend fall anhydrous, but the last couple of weeks of March when conditions were generally favorable and dry enough, a lot of nitrogen had gone out there. Then we had a lot of rain.”

If growers use a nitrogen inhibitor with anhydrous applications, the conversion of ammonium to nitrate slows, prolonging the period of time that nitrogen is in the ammonium form and reduces nitrogen loss from the soil.

“We don’t want to have to go back and redo.”

—  Tim Sickman, regional agronomy manager, Nutrien Ag Solutions

“It should be in the ammonium form that’s the most stable form of nitrogen. With its positive charge, it stays locked to the soil exchange sites and is resistant to leaching and movement. So, even if we move a lot of water through the soil, if that nitrogen’s been properly protected, we should be able to have some confidence that it will stay put,” Sickman said.

“If anhydrous has been applied and a nitrification inhibitor was not used, knowing that we’ve had some warm weather the last couple of weeks of March, soil temperatures in a lot of cases have hit 50 degrees or above, that’s when the microbial life really wakes up in the soil and the two bacteria that are responsible for driving the conversion of ammonium over nitrate have become active.

“If that ammonia wasn’t protected when it was knifed in, there could already be some conversion to nitrate. If we get copious amounts of rain, there will be some risk of nitrogen loss.

“That could be through two forms, either leaching that nitrate deeper into the profile or if we get waterlogged conditions in fields that are subject to flooding or ponding followed by several days of conditions like that, and we’ve had some conversion to nitrate, we could be staring at the potential for some nitrogen loss.

“If it wasn’t protected with a nitrification inhibitor, then at least do some spot soil sampling to find out what the nitrogen levels are in the soil to see if you might have to supplement some additional nitrogen into the program.”

Seed Selection

If the calendar turns to May, Sickman recommends sticking with the original hybrid and variety selections.

“Even if we end up going all the way into early May, there’s really no need to be getting so excited that you start thinking, oh, man, am I going to have to try to find shorter season hybrids or am I going to have to switch up my genetics? There is no need to embrace that conversation at this time,” he said.

“If they’ve done their job in planning and made their hybrid and variety selections based on all the criteria that should be brought into that equation, what’s in the bag right now and what they have in the shed on the farm is still going to be a good fit even if it’s into early May when they finally get out there.”

Weed Control

Through the end of March, a lot of growers applied burndown herbicide to control existing winter annual weeds, but heavy rain followed by higher temperatures can awaken a rapid flush of additional winter annual weeds.

“Even though we call them winter annuals, many of the species will still germinate in April and can quickly carpet fields,” Sickman said.

Residual weed control is paramount.

“Burndown herbicides to take care of existing vegetation either prior to or at planting time is important, but residual chemistries remain in many respects the front line of defense against the broader spectrum of weeds that we deal with throughout the season,” Sickman said.

“Every grower out there today knows the score with regard to resistant weeds and the importance of managing against resistance. These pre-emerge or residual chemistries are our frontline in that battle.

“I heard a well-respected weed scientist in the Midwest say that a postemergence herbicide will never fail to control a weed it never sees. What was implied by that and what we should infer from that is keeping weeds from ever germinating and seeing the light of the day is not only supportive of yield, but it is also an important measure in the overall battle to stave off and keep at bay the development of resistance in weed populations.

“If they get up, get out of the ground, off to the races, a lot of our postemergence chemistries and the families of chemistries we deal with, many of them are heavily challenged today. To maintain efficacy with them, we need to do a really good job with our residual program.”

Tight Margins

In a tight economic environment, it’s important to get it right the first time.

“Margins are tight right now, given the cost of production and where commodity prices are, there’s not a real rosy picture in terms of a profitability potential,” Sickman said.

“Most people, I think, on paper are showing that if they achieve certain yield levels and can maintain a certain control over their costs that there is room to make money this year. But when margins are as tight and thin as they are, I think it becomes even more important that we button things up tight and try to do things very carefully.

“We don’t want to have to go back and redo. We don’t have to engage in a lot of replanting, because anything that adds additional cost on top of an already strained budget, it’s just going to make things that much more of a challenge.”