24
Jul
2019
Tar Spot is a relatively new disease in the US but is one that can cause severe yield loss if conditions are right.
Categories: Agronomy, Agronomy Talk
Tags: Beck's Agronomy, Beck's, Corn Disease, tar spot
7
Nov
2016
Even though wheat acres are down quite a bit this year, I’ve seen a lot of drills running through fields over the past month. I’ve also heard the old adage, “dust it in, bust the bin” more times than I can count. While it was ok at first, it’s now starting to worry me.
Categories: Agronomy, Kentucky, Tennessee
Tags: harvest, Agronomy, Beck's, Austin Scott, Kentucky Agronomy, Tennessee Agronomy, Ag Chat, WHEAT PLANTING, DRILLING WHEAT, SEED TREATMENT, ESCALATE
4
Oct
Cover crops offer a variety of benefits from reducing erosion to adding nutrients to your soil. When I start a conversation with a farmer about cover crops, my first question is always, “what are your goals for the cover crop?” Cover crops are used for many different reasons so it’s important to know why you need them before you plant. A pre-determined goal will help you decide which cover crop or cover crop mixture you should plant on your farm.
Tags: Practical Farm Research, Agronomy, Beck's, Cover Crops, PFR, Austin Scott, Kentucky Agronomy, Tennessee Agronomy, Ag Chat, Cover Crop Solutions, Fall Cover Crop, yield benefits, fall harvest, herbicide carryover on cover crops, cover crop mix
20
Sep
Harvest time is finally here and for most of us in the South, this will be the year to forget! Parts of Tennessee encountered the worst drought we’ve seen since 2012. On the other end of the spectrum, parts of Kentucky, southern Indiana, and southern Illinois caught more rain than they could handle for most of the year. The Missouri Bootheel couldn’t make up its mind if it wanted to be too dry or too wet! All of these crazy environmental conditions have led to some serious standability issues in our corn. Just about every corn field I’ve been in recently has shown signs of premature death and stalk rot. This is something we see every year, but some years are worse than others and may require a little more planning before harvest.
Tags: harvest, corn harvest, Agronomy, Beck's, stalk rot, stalk lodging, Austin Scott, Kentucky Agronomy, Tennessee Agronomy, Ag Chat, standability issues in corn, stalk lodge, corn pinch test, corn push test, Anthracnose stalk rot in corn, Fusarium stalk rot in corn
2015
After harvest 2015 is complete, it’s important to conduct a review of product performance and management practices for the year. Lessons can be learned each year regarding what worked and what didn’t. Although each year can be uniquely different, noticing trends that lead to higher yields and greater returns on investment will continue to be important.
Categories: Agronomy Talk
Tags: Illinois, Indiana, Practical Farm Research, Chad Kalaher, Agronomy, Beck's, Agronomy Talk, Wisconsin, nitrogen stabilizers, sidedress, Beck's PFR Book, Beck's Winter Meetings
Stalk quality can be negatively affected by three factors: disease, nutrient deficiency, and environment. Fungal diseases like fusarium, anthracnose, and gibberella stalk rot cause decay of the internal pith tissues of the stalk. Nitrogen deficiency can lead to the ear cannibalizing the stalk to feed itself. Extended straight line winds in excess of 60 mph can cause any hybrid to lodge; especially those fields that have experienced stress from the other two factors. Harvest prioritization will be especially important this fall.
Tags: Beck's Hybrids, Indiana, Agronomy, Beck's, Ohio, Brent Minett, Agronomy Talk, stalk lodging, stalk quality, stalk cannibalization, harvest prioritization
This year can be called the year of leaf diseases! We have seen gray leaf spot, northern corn leaf blight, and even southern rust. Corn has filled out well, but stalk quality is a concern as plants have cannibalized with the late dry stress. Harvest will be a chance for us to evaluate our fungicide applications. Many diseases came in late and the residual from the fungicide may be gone. In some cases, these diseases may not have affected yield dramatically. If you are planning to go corn after corn, consider what diseases you had and plant a hybrid with good tolerance to them.
Tags: Beck's Hybrids, harvest, corn, soybeans, Indiana, Agronomy, Beck's, Steve Gauck, Cover Crops, Agronomy Talk, fungicide applications, Gray leaf spot, Northern corn leaf blight, Farmserver, southern rust
Throughout the month of August I had the privilege to work alongside Beck’s Practical Farm Research (PFR)® staff, conducting agronomy research tours at Beck’s Field Shows at both our Henderson, KY and Effingham, IL locations as well as Becknology™ Days in Atlanta, IN. Beck’s PFR program embodies the essence of Beck’s values (teamwork, integrity, innovation, adaptability, commitment, and passion) like no other agronomy program with which I have been associated. From the beginning, Beck’s founders have demonstrated a passion for observing and measuring the components of successful crop production from which they adapt and innovate to improve production systems. The PFR program is the natural evolution of this process, and its research data is now something we as Missouri farmers can access and deploy in our corn, soybean, and wheat production systems.
Tags: Beck's Hybrids, corn, Practical Farm Research, Agronomy, Beck's, Cover Crops, Nitrogen, David Hughes, Missouri, Winter Wheat, Agronomy Talk
As harvest progresses, you will see yield variabilities that are unparalleled. For many farmers, this will be a first time experience! You will see hybrids and varieties respond with wide yield swings. Just about any stress you can think of has shown up in our region this growing season. Rainfall intensity and frequent occurrences, planting delays, nitrogen losses, and compaction are the big four. Any one, or a combination of these, will hinder product performance this year.
Tags: Beck's Hybrids, Indiana, Agronomy, Beck's, Nitrogen Loss, Denny Cobb, Cover Crops, Cereal Rye, Agronomy Talk, Michigan, yield swings
Harvest is in full swing and now is the time for product evaluations. Many farmers I know do not walk their fields at length to evaluate corn and soybean variety performance on their farm during the summer, but during harvest, you’ve got the best seat in the house — right behind the header. Use this opportunity to jot some notes down as you go from field to field and variety to variety.
Tags: Beck's Hybrids, harvest, soybeans, Agronomy, Beck's, Ohio, Alex Johnson, Agronomy Talk, Yield, Farmserver, product evaluations
One tendency among farmers with rotor combines is to run the rotor too slow. This grinds material more, moves material slower, and produces more fines to clean out. If the concave is too far open or closed, it can break grain. Book settings will normally get you pretty close when setting your combine.
Tags: Beck's Hybrids, harvest, soybeans, Agronomy, Beck's, Ohio, Scouting, Alex Johnson, Agronomy Talk, Yield, Waterhemp, Weeds, combine rotor
This is our one last chance to scout fields and evaluate the year before harvest begins. As you walk corn fields, be sure to evaluate disease levels and look to see which hybrids handled diseases better. Ask yourself if you are happy with your fungicide applications. Look at grain fill and pollination. Take a final assessment of weed control, record notes on what weeds are present and if they need to be targeted next year. In soybeans, be on the lookout for Palmer amaranth. It has been identified in southern Indiana and we do not want to run the combine through a patch of it and spread the seeds out.
Tags: Beck's Hybrids, harvest, corn, soybeans, Indiana, Agronomy, Beck's, Steve Gauck, Cover Crops, Agronomy Talk, fungicide applications, Palmer amaranth
As harvest begins, it’s extremely important to review and execute your soil sampling and analysis plan. Due to potential sampling and lab screening delays, don’t wait until all your fields are harvested to initiate this process. Be sure to ask for soil test analysis including the basics plus CEC, base saturations and micronutrients. In 2015, spring soil and tissue samples collected during the growing season continue to indicate common nutrient deficiencies that are not being addressed in many fertility plans. Many farmers who have their pH, phosphorus, and potassium at optimum soil test levels may be ignoring important yield-limiting nutrients.
Tags: Illinois, Indiana, Chad Kalaher, Agronomy, Zinc, Beck's, Soil Sampling, Agronomy Talk, Wisconsin, soil sample tests, soil analysis, micronutrients, N P & K, sulfur, boron
The 2015 growing season has been one most of us would rather forget. Cool and wet followed by warm and wet followed by dry in a few isolated areas. Nitrogen loss and leaf disease have added to the problem as summer has progressed. As harvest approaches, we need to consider how we are going to handle this crop. Here are a few thoughts:
Tags: Beck's Hybrids, Indiana, Agronomy, Beck's, Ohio, Brent Minett, Agronomy Talk, Don't delay harvest, fuel price, lower cylinder/rotor speed, drying temperatures
As combines roll during harvest, be ready with a soil testing game-plan. Optimum crop nutrition requires an accurate inventory of the critical nutrients in your soil. Prioritize fields to include: newly acquired fields; fields that have not been soil tested within the past three years, and fields with observed nutrient deficiencies.
Tags: Beck's Hybrids, corn, Agronomy, Beck's, Nitrogen, David Hughes, Missouri, Agronomy Talk, Crop Health Imaging, soil testing, soil nutrients, soil sample
This early fall period gives farmers the opportunity to implement management practices that will benefit them during the 2016 crop season and beyond. Our agronomic area experienced extraordinary rainfall events this past season. The intensive rain events of 2015 have created surface compaction as well as stagnant soils with limited amounts of oxygen and micro life. Cover crops are an excellent means to help cure these issues.
Tags: Beck's Hybrids, Indiana, Agronomy, Beck's, Denny Cobb, Cover Crops, Agronomy Talk, Michigan, soil compaction, Beck's corn champion mix
Aug
Record precipitation totals for June have caused concern for corn and soybeans heading into harvest. Many corn fields lost nitrogen and will have a limited ability to adequately fill kernels. Because of this, I expect many corn fields will have ears displaying aborted kernels. In addition, saturated soils may have pre-disposed corn plants to stalk rot infection.
Tags: Illinois, Indiana, Chad Kalaher, Agronomy, Beck's, White Mold, Disease, Agronomy Talk, Sudden Death Syndrome, Wisconsin, aborted kernels, stalk lodging, brown stem rot
What a year it has been. As we evaluate our crop in August, we have a great opportunity to take a hard look at yield potential and yield loss suffered this year. As you walk corn fields, pull ears and check for pollination problems. If you see some, think back to pollination time. Was it dry, wet, hot or cold? We lost a lot of nitrogen early. Are ears stunted?
Tags: Beck's Hybrids, corn, soybeans, Agronomy, Beck's, Steve Gauck, Nitrogen, Indiana Agronomy Talk, Sudden Death Syndrome, Liberty herbicide
Every year at this time I still feel that back-to-school excitement when I watch my children get ready to make the transition from the fun summer break back to more disciplined learning. As farmers, harvest is one of our key times to learn. Today’s technology enables us to gather valuable data at the same time we harvest the yield from a long season’s work. If you use a yield monitor, prepare for accurate yield data collection by going through your technology supplier’s preharvest maintenance checklist.
Tags: Beck's Hybrids, corn, Agronomy, Beck's, David Hughes, Missouri, Agronomy Talk, data collection during harvest, management systems, yield monitor
It has been a challenging growing season and although you might feel like giving up, don’t! Here are few scouting tips that could add a few bushels to this year’s crop.
Tags: Beck's Hybrids, Indiana, Agronomy, Beck's, Ohio, Brent Minett, Agronomy Talk, frogeye leaf spot, late planted corn, small stunted soybeans, bean leaf beetle