There are currently three herbicides containing Dicamba that are registered in Wisconsin that can be used on Dicamba tolerant soybeans, and they are Engenia, Xtendimax, and FeXapan. All three are registered as restricted use pesticide and also require Dicamba training and certification to be used in Wisconsin and other states. This training and certification takes about three hours. I have included a schedule of training dates offered by BASF and it sounds like they will be offering more dates and locations in the near future.

-Dan Langkamp

Last year I happened to be scouting some fields with a drone and noticed a neighboring field with some odd striping to it. I met with the producers who ran this farm, and together we looked into what caused the pattern. Figuring out the problem was rather simple…the company that had applied the fertilizer did not have their equipment configured properly for the application, an error that caused measurable yield loss.

Unfortunately, I have seen dozens of examples of poor placement of crop inputs that have cost producers significant yield. I decided to focus on a few tips to ensure better placement of the products we purchase to grow our crops.

Tip 1:  Set high standards for your planting equipment. Your planter has the most important job of any piece of equipment on the farm. The fastest way to lose yield potential is through plant stress from improper planting. Uniform seed depth and spacing can be obtained with today’s technology, but many farmers overlook the value related to proper planting. In fact, some planters are still running without any monitoring of seed placement. I was able to run some reports for growers comparing yield to seed spacing, and found that for 1 out of every 100 seeds improperly placed costs $6 bushel to the acre. Beck’s PFR and Iowa State University studies show that technology such as hydraulic downforce and electric drives pay for themselves in under 500 acres in most circumstances.

Tip 2:  Fertilize the areas of the field that need it. Grid soil sampling is the best way to discover where your fields lack nutrients. I have yet to see a single field that had consistent fertility levels across every acre.  Most fields have areas that are high in nutrient levels and will not respond to additional application of those nutrients. On the other hand, areas with nutrient deficiency will often experience yield loss as those nutrients become the main yield limiting factor. As having good soil data is so valuable to maximizing yield, it’s best to have experienced agronomists collect samples and write nutrient   recommendations.

Tip 3:  Have your fertilizer applied with the right equipment. Part of the issue in the picture attached was the method of application. A spinner type applicator needs to be adjusted based on the density of the fertilizer particles and the width of application. While a properly calibrated spinner spreader can do an excellent job applying a single product or similar products, spinner spreading a mixture of fertilizers that vary in density will often cause uneven application like the picture shows. A wide spread with (such as 80-90’) also increases the chances of uneven application compared to a 60-foot-wide spread pattern. Using an airflow is the best method to ensure even distribution of a fertilizer blend.  Some farmers are choosing to use strip-till applicators or their planters to band fertilizer close to the root zone of the crop.

Tip 4:  Band nitrogen close to the rootzone. Nitrogen loss in broadcast applications is an unnecessary expense in today’s crop production. One of the largest benefits to anhydrous ammonia and Y-drop applications is the ability to keep  nitrogen banded close to where the roots will find it. Numerous studies show that banded nitrogen in the rootzone contributes to significantly greater plant uptake of nitrogen as well as reduced losses from both denitrification and leaching.

Tip 5:  Use RTK GPS in your farming operation.  WS AG Center invested in MyWay RTK towers to give customers reliable signal and unparalleled accuracy for their precision systems. Having RTK field boundaries keeps inputs in the field where they belong, and minimizes gaps or overlaps as your equipment travels back and forth across your fields. RTK also allows repeatability year to year so crop producers can easily manage fertilizer and seed placement. MyWay RTK is designed to work with your equipment, no matter what brand you run.

Remember, the Right Placement is just one of the 4 R’s of nutrient management. Don’t forget that the other three R’s are also important: using the Right Rate of the Right Product at the Right Time. At WS AG Center we have the products, technology, and experience to help you implement all 4 R’s of nutrient management on your farm.

-Andrew Tucker

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a training seminar about seed treatment at Syngenta’s Seedcare Institute in Stanton, MN.  The Seedcare Institute in Stanton is dedicated solely for the development and testing of seed treatments, and it is 1 of 13 stations worldwide.  Needless to say, I was quite impressed with the staff and facilities there.  As many of you know, WS Ag has a seed treater that allows us to treat seed with a variety of seed treatments, inoculants, micronutrients, or any number of other seed applied products.  A vast majority of what we treat soybeans with is CruiserMaxx Vibrance seed treatment and Optimize XC inoculant.  The main points I would like to share is the transparency with regards to our products and the   value of treating your soybeans.

CruiserMaxx Vibrance is a premix of three different fungicide modes of action and one insecticide mode of action.  The main diseases that it controls are Pythium, Phytophthora, Fusarium, and Rhizoctonia; and the main insect pests that it controls are wireworm, white grub, and seed corn maggot to name a few. Optimize XC is a living bacterium that forms the nodules on the roots so the soybeans can fixate their own nitrogen.  Once applied to the seed, Optimize with last for 120 days and its low use rate reduces the tendency for seeds to stick together after they are put through the treater.  Soybean inoculants are critical for a field that will be soybeans for the first time and are a cheap insurance policy for fields planted to soybeans in a rotation.

A question that I get this time of year is do I need to use a seed treatment on my soybeans?  The quick answer to that most of the time is yes.  University of Wisconsin Extension has dedicated a lot of research to this topic over the years and they’ve found that the return on investment for soybean seed treatments is above breakeven 70 to 80% of the time in this state.  The general guidelines that I like to follow are if you are   planting your soybeans in April or early to mid-May, you should treat your soybeans regardless of soil temperature, tillage, soil type, or row spacing.  If you are planting soybeans at the end of May or in June, you are probably better off planting untreated soybeans as a positive return on investment isn’t as common with seed treatment.  On a side note if you are planting soybeans following soybeans, you should always treat your soybeans as disease, insect, and nematode pests rapidly build up in the soil.  A couple of pests that require separate discussion from general fungicide/insecticide seed treatments are Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) and Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS).  Across all US soybean acres, these are two of the most economically damaging pests that we face.  Breeding for soybeans resistant to SCN has been an   effective method of control for many years but almost all resistant varieties contained the same gene.  Areas of the Midwest are   finding that the gene is no longer effective at controlling SCN.  SDS was a common soybean yield robber in southwest Wisconsin back in 2016.  SDS symptoms can be enhanced by SCN because the nematodes create scars in the roots for SDS to infect soybean seedlings.  If you are concerned about nematodes, UW Extension offers every farmer four free nematode samples each year which are about as simple as pulling soil cores for soil testing.  If you have field history of SCN or SDS, there are products we can apply to the seed to control them.  Clariva Pn contains a soil bacterium that feeds on cyst nematodes and since it is a living predator, it can provide season long control of SCN.  Mertect 340-F is a fungicide that will control SDS during the early part of the growing season when SDS infects the young soybean seedlings.

The key point that I would like you to take away is that seed treatments have become quite complicated and it is important to know your field history and what is in your seed treatment.  So I would encourage you to sit down with an agronomist at WS Ag if you want to talk more about what treatment is going on your seed this season.

– Mark Kendall

In southwest Wisconsin, acreage of new and existing, high-value horticultural crops (such as wine grapes) has been increasing in areas traditionally planted with agronomic, forestry, pasture or other crops. The introduction and expansion of these new commercial grape crops into traditionally-planted areas require that growers evaluate their neighbors more established crop production practices to ensure that all crops in an area can be produced   without conflict.

In particular, drift from adjacent areas can pose a major threat to the growth and success of commercial grape production. When applied nearby, some chemicals can cause significant injury to grapevines.

To help counter this threat, there are some things growers can do:

• Know the chemicals that are harmful to grape production and the symptoms of injury.
• Know how to protect your planting from chemical drift.
• Keep in contact with your neighbors for crops adjacent to your land.
• Inform your Agronomist on any possible land that may be affected with application.

I recently attended a field day organized by UW-Madison Extension at the Arlington Ag Research Station.  The main theme of the event was aimed at making our cropping systems more resilient in the future when we are facing  uncertain growing conditions due to market lows, weather extremes, and new or changing pest pressures.  The three topics I will touch on in this article are diversification, soil health, and weed management.

I want to talk about corn and soybean seed selection diversification.  Producing a profitable crop is the combination of good plant genetics and sound agronomic practices.  A good fertility program means nothing if a corn hybrid is placed on a soil type that it is poorly adapted to and vice versa.  Every year there is going to be a handful of varieties that would perform the best on our acres due to the weather and pest pressure but without being able to predict the future, we are forced to spread out our risk using a number of different varieties and genetically modified traits.  Seed price is an important factor every year, but make sure you are working with a trusted seed supplier or agronomist to ensure that you’re setting yourself up for the most profitable year possible.  Poorly placed varieties will net more of a loss than the money saved on cheaper seed.  With the amount of variability in our area, take some time to consider the many factors that can affect your seed selection.  Some of the more obvious factors are crop rotation, plant population, ear flex, soil type, crop use, pest pressure, and soil drainage.  Corn yield data shows that each unit of increase in relative maturity (RM) will increase yield by 1.9 bushels/acre, but an earlier harvest using lower RM varieties can equal greater gains from lower drying costs, time for fall field work, and time to plant cover crops.

Soil health has been a buzz word in agriculture in recent years.  While its definition isn’t always set in stone, most people are currently focusing on soil organic matter (SOM).  Increasing our SOM from 2 to 3% or from 3 to 4% for example can lead to more nitrogen being mineralized every year, higher water holding capacity, and better water infiltration among many benefits.  One well known way to increase SOM is by having plants growing from the start to finish of our growing season.  Our forage systems that include alfalfa easily fall into this category.  Research from the UW has shown that our annual grain cropping systems with conventional two-pass tillage don’t build organic matter.  SOM additions can be gained in these systems with the incorporation of management practices that include reduced tillage, manure applications, and cover crops.  Reducing the number of tillage passes and the aggressiveness of our tillage machines will reduce the losses of organic matter from our soil.  Manure contains organic matter that will be added to the soil, and cover crops mimic our perennial forage systems and will add organic matter over the duration of their existence.

The last point I would like to make involves the challenge of weed control every year.  The past couple of years we have witnessed the spread of glyphosate (roundup) resistant waterhemp as well as difficulty in controlling giant ragweed and marestail or horseweed.  These problem weeds will continue to spread in our area through machinery, wind, water, and wildlife.  What I am stressing is the need to be flexible with our weed control options.  Outside of chemicals, tillage and cover crops should be considered as useful tools in our fight against weeds.  Within our chemical options, a   diverse plan utilizing soil applied herbicides and effective foliar herbicides should be implemented to give ourselves the best shot for having good weed control.  Soybeans are more challenging than corn because there are fewer foliar herbicides labeled for use in soybeans.  I would strongly encourage everyone to look at adopting liberty-link or dicamba tolerant soybeans to add another option to control emerged weeds when facing glyphosate resistant weeds.  Years like 2017 show the importance of having back up plans when plan A doesn’t get done due to being rained out of the field.

The staff at WS Ag is trained in the areas of seed selection, soil health, and weed management if you have questions or concerns about your current crop production practices.

Mark Kendall