So today, in addition to the field crop planting that continues, there were several other activities that made for cool pictures and projects. With all of the rain and cool weather of late, growers in the area are concerned with diseases of winter wheat and are spraying fungicides. Hopefully you recall that we have done experiments with adding foliar nutrition to fungicide applications in recent years here at the NCRS. We found significant yield increases, particularly with NResponse. So everyone should be adding this to their fungicide applications. Well I think they should anyway. Why else would we do all of this work? We have some good sized areas of winter wheat on Farm 8 and today made some field-sized applications to replicated strips of fungicide with and without NResponse, as well as no fungicide or fertilizer. Each strip was over 2 acres in size. The grain heads were just emerging. Below Phil makes the application. Next week will will do some more with another fungicide at a later growth stage.
I showed pictures recently of the setting of transplants into the field. Next on tap is transplanting into plastic-covered beds. This is some good research and is reflective of grower practices. First fertilizers are applied in bands on the ground. You can see a band of liquid fertilizer to the lower right of Brian on the tractor. Each bed has a different fertilizer treatment that is replicated several times. Then Brian drives his machine over it that shapes the bed, drapes plastic over the bed, and buries irrigation tape under the bed. So in essence, this is a shaper-draper-taper operation. (Hello...is this thing on?) Anyway, we see Tim at the end waiting to cut the plastic and the tape.
Tomorrow they will transplant green peppers, and I hope to be here with camera in hand to record this. Below is a look at the covered bed area on the South end of Farm 3. It looks pretty cool, and will even more so after the plants are in.
So once again, every day is an adventure at the NCRS!
