Hay Day(s)

So another thing we had to do this week was to harvest our alfalfa plots. Here is a picture of the test site on Wednesday. It is just starting to flower. It looks really nice, as it was just seeded last year. It is 300 feet long and the plots are 15 feet wide. The actual harvested width of each plot is 13 feet. On Thursday, Stephanie excused herself from the Farm 7 spray job to get Ron started cutting the plots with the haybine. We use the gps guidance here which is very handy when looking at a solid field of alfalfa.Late Friday morning Ron begins to bale the alfalfa with the round baler. This has been a great system for yield determination. The plots are long enough that you can get enough alfalfa picked up to make a bale.

I haven't had a picture of Ron for awhile, so enjoy this one of him working in the plots.

At the end of each plot, Ron gives birth to a baby bale. This being the second cutting, the bales are smaller than at the first cutting.

Then Friday afternoon the weighing of bales commences. Below Jeff picks up a plot bale with the "claw" as we call it, and places it on a small wagon with a digital scale attached.

Amanda records the weight while Stephanie grabs two samples from the bale. One is weighed right away on a small scale. Then it will be re-weighed a few days later after being dried in our dryer. This is to determince per cent moisture. The second sample is sent to a lab for quality analysis. Results of these samples will enable determination of treatment effects on both yield and quality. What becomes of the bales, you ask? They are given to a neighbor dairy with whom we are friends. So no hay is wasted in this operation.

I pretty much stayed out of the way and took pictures, so the operation was flawless.

Lot's of Spraying This Week

So after a few days off to celebrate our nation's independence, it was back to plotwork. Crops are now in the stages for foliar applications to commence in earnest. Foliar applications can be tricky because we have found that applying nutrients that aren't needed really don't affect yield. But application of potassium in low-K soils, even where potassium fertilizer was applied, can have a positive yield response. Other key nutrients would be micronutrients. I like to see Microlink Manganese or Micro 500 go along with Sure-K on soybeans in the Midwest where many soils are low in K and Mn. We have also been working with several experimental products this year. Wedenesday morning we made some applications to soybeans on Farm 5. These had been irrigated several days ago and were growing well, and would be expected to have good foliar uptake of applied nutrients. I do not recommend application of foliar fertilizers to plants that are in obvious drought stress. I like the long plots and the tram lines for driving the sprayer. Amanda had not yet had a chance to drive the plot Hagie, and today was her lucky day! She was a fast learner. After application of treatments to the plots, we usually spray the excess fertilizer on the border rows, and that is what she is doing. There is a lot of stuff to watch: the gps monitor to make sure you are in the right place, the Raven control for speed and application rate, the Wilger balls to make sure all nozzles are spraying equally, the pressure gauge to make sure all applications are at the same pressure, and probably some other stuff too. This sprayer does not have autosteer, so it is a good idea to keep your eyes on the road, so to speak. She will be the envy of her friends back at school once they learn of this!
She is a good applicator. You should see her parallel park.

The next morning, Thursday, was going to be a marathon on Farm 7. We had, according to Stephanie who is Keeper of the Plot Plans, 47 treatments to be applied on 188 plots on seven experiments on three crops. We got an early start to try to get as much done as we could before it got too hot. Also, Farm 7 is not irrigated, and although there appears to be adequate soil moisture, they could show some stress if it was sunny and hot. So we wouldn't spray then. But this morning it was cool and cloudy. Below we see the crew of Stephanie, Amanda and Jeff ready to get to work preparing the treatments to be loaded into the plot Hagie.

The first experiment we sprayed was sugarbeets. Here Stephanie got creative with a close-up of the beet and the sprayer in the background.

Next we had some corn treatments to apply. Generally we have not found foliar applications to be effective on well-fertilized corn. The uptake of N, P and K is best through the roots. But we have shown products like N Response to be effective if there is some N deficiency. This particular test is in low-manganese soil, and is evaluating timing, rates and placement of Microlink Manganese.

Practically all of the 520 acres of the NCRS have low soil manganese. But one area on Farm 7 is really deficient, and that is on a small area that has exceptionally high organic matter of 9%. Manganese deficiency is especially prounounced on high organic matter soils, and it is obvious here in these soybeans. Some plots received manganese at planting, but it did not stop these signs of deficiency. This is the first year we have grown soybeans here as it was in corn last year.

Now this plot below has not had any fertilizer applied until this foliar application. You can see the variablility of the deficiency signs. It was really worse on a small ridge through the middle of the plot, and was like that from one end to the other. We will check for soil test difference, but it was interesting. Last year I showed a picture of how high rates of foliar-applied Microlink Manganese greened up some yellow soybeans like this. So we will see.

It ended up being a great spray day. It stayed cloudy all day, no wind, and the maximum temperature was only 78 degrees. So we got everything done. Now that I like. You can do a lot with good help.

Let Freedom Ring!

So it's America's birthday again. Founded in freedom 235 years ago and still the envy of those wanting to taste freedom. For those, like me, who grew up in America and don't know any different, it is interesting to read what foreigners and new U.S. citizens from around the world say about what they like about it here. Things like food choices (thanks to farmers), clean water, indoor plumbing, 9-1-1 (nothing like that in many countries), driving a car, and mostly, being able to say whatever you want. I like it when the Fourth is on Monday because it extends the weekend. And what better way to celebrate Americana than attending a baseball game. Last night we went to the Lansing Lugnuts (Single A affiliate of the Toronto BlueJays) vs. the pesky Captains from Lake County Indiana. The Lugnuts broke the tie in the bottom of the 9th with a hit to knock in a run and win 5-4. There were over 8,000 happy fans. But the show wasn't over. After the game there was a fireworks show.
Oooooh..... Aaaaah.....

Then this morning, the actual 4th of July, there was the annual parade in downtown Lansing. Now I had never been to this parade, but it was such a nice day I wanted to see what it was about and to share it with all of you. The parade began at 11 am with the Marines carrying the colors by the capital of Michigan. There were a number of other flag bearers as well. You may notice a light crowd on that side of the street. Most of the watchers like me were in the shade of the buildings on the opposite side. I did not want to be like those people sitting in the scorching 76 degree heat! Plus the view was nicer with the capital in the background.

There were several veterans groups. There also was this guy below who was in the First Black Marines in 1942, some 69 years ago. The sign said it was the 1st Montford Point Marines.

And since I am a dog lover, I had to show this group of pooches from the Capital Area Humane Society encouraging people to adopt a dog. I'm sure they would welcome visit from you. Tell them I sent you.

Lansing was, and still is, a major manufacturing city for cars. It once was the headquarters for Oldsmobile, which was sadly retired a few years ago. But it is still a big GM town. There were a lot of classic and modified cars in the parade. Troy has a classic Olds 442 that he has owned for many years that I'm sure would be welcome.

Now if you look closely at the front door of the green and yellow car below it says John Deere in faint paint. These guys didn't look like farmers, but they must be sending a shout-out to the agricultural community. How nice.

These tricked out cars were Outta Control, as was the name of their club. Low Rider: cool car and song.

And this car below is a 1970 Olds Toronado built right here in Lansing. It's fun to remember when cars were big. I remember being a kid in Oklahoma liking the Toronado. No, really! My dad had a big Olds Cutlass built here.

Well like I've said before, it's not all fun and games up here. We have a project where we take soil samples every Monday. The soil did not know it was the 4th of July, so I volunteered to do it, since I was gone some last week and all. Normally Jeff and Amanda take the samples. Well, I've got to tell you, the lack of rain has made this ground hard and difficult to sample. There are 6 plots and 10 samples per plot. So I figured if I could do a sample a second, and then time to fill the bags, it would be 2 minutes tops. But with the hard ground, I was jumping up and down on that probe (fortunately ours has a step for pushing) to get it in deep enough. So it took quite a bit longer than 2 minutes. We have talked about getting a hydraulic probe to help with all the sampling that we do. And by "we", I mainly mean Stephanie who does all the fall sampling. I have never used a hydraulic probe before, but if they can sample ground this hard, it would be worth the cost, whatever it is.

So back home for another cookout on the charcoal grill (I am not a gas-man) and sat on the porch listening to all of the fireworks going on out here in rural Wacousta. But heck, why bother watching it all outside when you can see good fireworks from Washington on TV?

I guess it's not the same. So I enjoyed the holiday and celebration of our independence. I really hope you all had some similar, or even better, meaningful experiences. (Back to more farm stuff later this week.)

July and TGIF

So can it really be July now? Usually July makes you feel like the growing season has been in high gear for some time, but we just finished planting. Some of our corn has been in the ground for awhile though, and today we applied some more foliar fertilization, this time along with glyphosate. This corn was around 3 feet tall and looks good. This year also marks the first time that we have not turned on irrigation in June. In spite of my continuous whining about excess rain, it has gotten a little dry now for these fast growing crops, so the water was turned on, as we see below on Farm 5.
These Black Beans were just planted on Tuesday on Farm 7, and they are just about to emerge. Shallow planted edible beans usually pop up in just a few days. They were planted later than normal and need to get going. The weather has been good for growing crops lately and today was in the mid-80's, so good for heat units.
Below we see Phil making some glyphosate applications to soybeans on Farm 7. We used a pre-emergence herbicide, but with all of the rain, postemergence applications are necessary. In this particular field there was quite a bit of Eastern Black Nightshade that needed a death treatment. We agree that the only good weed is a dead weed. Winter wheat is coming along quickly now with all of the sunshine and warm temperatures. This wheat experiment is on Farm 3, and is the one where we applied applications of NResponse and ferti-Rain with Quadris fungicide at flag leaf. Local predictions say that wheat harvest will begin on July 15. Ron is working on the combine to make sure we are ready. (A picture of that would have been nice. Mental note: take a picture.) We started irrigation on Farm 3 too, as can be seen in the background. And finally, everyone knows the silly saying that corn should be "knee high by the 4th of July". Normally it is way ahead of that, but this year some corn is not yet knee high. But the corn experiments at the NCRS can mostly meet this standard, as demonstrated by agronomists Amanda and Stephanie. (They were so happy to make this picture. But this is for ag publicity after all.)

So as we head into Independence Day, I wish all of you a safe and happy holiday and hope you show up next week with all fingers intact.

Applications Today Were N-Tense

So I know that title is lame, but they can't all be homeruns. But today I was back at the NCRS feeding some N to corn with some drop nozzle treatments. This is a way to spread out applications, although our results have generally shown that a single timely application is as good as spreading it out over multiple applications. Even with our lighter textured soils. Hmmm. But with all the rain this year, we will see if maybe there was an advantage to multiple trips. You can't see the nozzles in the picture below, but they are there. Stephanie took this picture of the N band between two rows of corn in the V9 growth stage, and about 3 feet tall. The corn is looking pretty good now that we have had some sunny days. The bad part is that there are spots around where water stood and the corn is shorter, or less stand. That complicates research.
We applied several different rates of several different N sources. We used regular broadcast nozzles (actually Turbo Tee Jets) turned sideways to make a band. This to minimize chance of spraying N on leaves. But I run the nozzles just a couple inches off the ground, and at moderate pressure, around 20 psi to minimize splashing. I recommend a nozzle in every row middle too rather than every other row. And it is nice having my boom nozzles on 15 inch centers which makes it easy to have a drop nozzle in the exact middle of each 30 inch row. Below, Jeff and Amanda change nozzles at this pit stop. Now if you do this, you should split the line to the two outside nozzles in the guess rows, and use half sized rate nozzles on those. This is because the guess row will get sprayed twice, as on the trip back the other way, and you don't want to put a double dose on there. We do this on our sidedress applicator too, as explained in a past posting.

We made drop nozzle applications to two different experiments on two different farms. After that it was time to make some broadcast nitrogen applications to the sugarbeet demonstration plots planted on Tuesday. So after the nozzle switcheroo, it happened.


So that's done. Probably have to do something else tomorrow.

Now Put the Planter Away!

So I was still away on a fertilizer mission yesterday when all this happened, but Stephanie sent these photographs by carrier pigeon so that we may keep you, our loyal readers, informed. And as hoped, the last planting project was completed yesterday. This was the planting of the demonstration plots, or the "demo" plots as we like to call them. (Grow fast little seeds.) There are lots (by "lots" I mean I don't remember the exact number) of different fertilizer treatments on corn, soybeans, black beans and sugarbeets on which we can have "hands on" evaluations at the farm tours coming up later this summer. (Wanna come?) Below Phil guides the planter through a plot. These plots are much shorter than the regular research plots since they are for demonstration purposes only. Yep, it was cloudy and sprinked a little, but the rain stayed away for once. Jeff watches Amanda fill a bucket of fertilizer as part of the next treatment mix. Looks like she got it right. Jeff likes to impress people by telling them he is an intern at St. Johns. (The "hospital" part goes without saying.) No, in reality, he is proud to be an agronomist. Well I return to the NCRS in St. Johns, Michigan tomorrow, and chaos is certain to ensue. It's time to start foliar spraying of soybeans, and drop nozzle applications of N on corn. With that to look forward to, I may be early for once! Stay tuned.

The End (of planting) is Finally Near

So for the first time in NCRS history, we finally had to throw in the towel on planting an experiment due to lateness. This wet, wet spring, and now summer, delayed planting so much that it is now just too late to plant milo and sunflowers and expect a harvest. So today it was dry enough to plant again, and it was decided to plant Navy beans in those spots. We do have some good treatments planned, so all is not lost. Below Phil gets an early start this morning on Navy bean planting. And then Stephanie managed the planting of the Black Bean experiment on Farm 7, again with Phil at the wheel. I'm sure I said it before that Michigan is the Number 1 producer of Black Beans.
I was away on a fertilizer mission, so I relied on the miracle of that thing we call the internet for the pictures. So that completes the major experiment planting. (Pause for cheering, even though it is almost July). Now what is left is what we call the "demo plots" which is where we plant different crops that we dig up and look at things like roots and leaves on tours. Usually they are planted a good month earlier, but who knows, we may be on the verge of a great discovery this year with late planting. That's what keeps us going......