Volume 12 Issue 7 July 2003

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF CROP QUEST AGRONOMIC SERVICES, INC.

Alfalfa Outlook
by Dwight Koops, Regional Vice President

The old adage, if you want to make it rain, put down your hay, seems to be coming true this year. This was not the trend across the High Plains the last couple of years. Hay went down and up in just days, and the quality of the hay tended to be very good. Because of the drought, alfalfa has been a valuable product. The area affected by severe drought appears to be receding this year. Pastures are greening up, and there is hope for cattlemen to utilize this forage to a greater extent. More rain also brings more tons of total forage production. What will this do to alfalfa prices? Prices are down from the peak and may trend even lower if alfalfa-producing areas have more favorable weather this year. There are still areas of severe drought in the inner mountain regions that may help buffer alfalfa prices. On the other side of the equation, wetter conditions usually lead to lesser-quality hay. Hay gets wet in the windrows more often, and alfalfa tends to be more mature at cutting. Weeds are more of a problem during wet years, and buyers looking for higher-quality hay get very picky about weeds in bales. This all leads to lower Relative Feed Values (RFV). Customers looking to buy quality hay find it harder to locate high RFV alfalfa. This can lead to higher premiums for good quality hay. The difference in price between grinding hay and high-quality dairy hay, or horse hay, has a much wider spread when hay is abundant especially when there is a glut of average-quality hay.
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Community Corn

Western Kansas community plants, packages sweet corn

In Ulysses, Kan., farmers are learning to grow corn all over again sweet corn. A community-wide effort to diversify the crops grown in the area has led to several producers turning field-corn acreage over to sweet corn. In addition, a plant to store and package produce is in the finishing stages of construction. A former Monsanto milo seed plant is being transformed into a cold-storage packing facility in anticipation of the first sweet corn harvest, expected July 10. Grant County Implement Co., a local John Deere dealership, hosted the first discussion meeting with community producers and has worked closely with the plants owner, WESt Industries LLC. We see this as a viable project for the community, says Greg Soelter of Grant County Implement Co. The farmers in this area have a history of being aggressive in experimenting with new ideas. Our objective is to make this a workable project for the entire community and get other farmers and crops involved. Grant County Implement Co. began work on the project more than three years ago to determine if sweet corn production in the area would be successful. After working the numbers, the owners took the idea to the producers. In January and February, meetings were held to assess the community interest in sweet corn. Several area producers are involved in the project, with more expected to join after the first year. Crop Quest was selected to consult on all the sweet corn acreage planted shortly after finalizing details with producers. We did extensive research on the crop and what to expect, says Dwight Koops, Regional Vice President at Crop Quest. We utilized a lot of experience within the company, and were using our agronomic skills like we would for any other crop. Crop Quest consultants visit the fields at least twice a week to evaluate the sweet corns condition, any change in insect pressure, disease or irrigation needs.
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Crop Quest Perspectives

Alfalfa, continued from page 1

Community Corn, continued from page 1

This year, concentrate your early cuttings on yield and your later cuttings on quality. As we progress through this season, start making plans to time your third, fourth and fifth cuttings for high RFV values. Make plans to protect the bales from weather by either shedding or tarping the bales. Cutting at bud to early bloom is extremely important to maintaining high RFV. Later cuttings have finer stems and a higher ratio of leaves to stems that adds to the RFV. Getting those leaves into the bale is extremely important. Avoid baling during the heat of the day when leaves fall off like chaff out the back of a combine. Marketing hay has always been a real challenge. Producers can be at the mercy of the buyers schedule more often than not. Assume in years like this, the money will be made by aggressively marketing higher-quality hay. Take RFV samples of the higherquality hay and use these RFV results as leverage to squeeze as many dollars per ton as possible from the buyer. Producing high-quality alfalfa production takes more than just controlling insects and weeds. Selecting varieties, monitoring fertility, keeping weed pressure down, timing cuttings for yield and quality and taking quality RFV samples are all parts of producing and marketing alfalfa. Utilizing these types of services can help improve your bottom line in alfalfa production.

Its really intensive farm management, notes Cameron Kunselman, Crop Quest agronomist. From spraying to lining up harvest, this is an intensive crop to manage. Some of the major challenges Crop Quest consultants are working against include Corn Earworm, Southwestern Corn Borer, Rootworms, Spider Mites, Common Smut and High Plains Virus to name just a few. While sweet corn is susceptible to many of the same pests and diseases as field corn, the plants tolerance is considerably lower. To further complicate matters, herbicide usage must be closely monitored as not to damage the plant. All sweet corn fields are sprayed every 2 to 5 days during the reproductive stage to ensure no insect damage to the ear. Treatments are applied by air or through chemigation. One of the producers, Vergil Johnson, has planted about 165 acres of sweet corn this year. Its challenging, Johnson notes. Like anything new, its going to have challenges until you learn more about it. In this first year of planting, Crop Quest consultants are monitoring a variety of agronomic techniques, soil types and irrigation methods. Were trying everything from conventional till to no till, says Kunselman. Were trying all kinds of irrigation methods. Were seeing sweet corn grown on all kinds of soil types. Were using these variations to learn

what works best in this area. What were finding is that the sweet corn is faring better on tighter ground and conventional tillage. Tighter ground is working better for the weaker root systems of sweet corn as compared to field corn. Also, conventional tillage is helping keep the field consistent. Six varieties of sweet corn were planted this year to accommodate staggered harvest dates. The packing plant will be able to accept 30 to 35 acres of corn per day. To keep the plant running at capacity, planting was staggered from April 10 to July 15. The first sweet corn was planted April 10, and the first harvest is expected July 10. This continual cycle of harvesting and packing helps ensure the corns freshness and quality. After a four-row harvester mechanically harvests the sweet corn, the temperature must be reduced to 34F to 35F in order to stop the corns sugar from converting to starch. The plant can produce up to 80 tons of ice per day and store up to 160 tons of ice to chill, store and transport the sweet corn. This plant and these sweet corn acres are all a combination of research and planning, Soelter notes. Were going to see how things go this year, but theres a possibility of cabbage, carrots, cucumbers and other produce. Our goal is to keep the plant running year-round and diversify the crops in the area.

Q: Why change the format of the

Crop Quest Newsletter?

A: Nothing stands still or stays the

by Ron OHanlon, President Member, National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants, CPCC-I Certified

same, so it goes for any newsletter. It is important to respond to the clients needs while incorporating new advances in media presentation. When Rollie Stukenholtz (past CEO and major contributor to the newsletter) died last fall, this left a tremendous void for articles in the newsletter. Because of that change, we made the decision to work with agricultural marketing agency McKinley Communications, Inc., Independence, Mo., to make the

newsletter more relevant to you the reader. The newsletter will be published every other month, and we will utilize the Internet system during the other months to present more current information. If you have any questions or concerns that you would like addressed in the newsletter, please send a note letting us know. Be sure to let your agronomist know what you think about the changes and the format. Remember to send us your e-mail address in order to receive a reminder of when our electronic version of the newsletter is posted on the Internet. Send a note to rohanlon@cropquest.com with a message that says subscribe.

Crop Quest Perspectives

www.cropquest.com

Fertilizing Next Years Wheat Crop

by Jim Gleason, Regional Vice President

As wheat harvest is winding down in the High Plains, it is not too soon to turn thoughts toward next years crop. The first thing to consider is the amount of fertilizer next years crop is going to require. Simply looking at the amount applied last year and making adjustments may not be the best plan. An inexpensive soil test may save you thousands of dollars by reducing input costs and help prevent over- or underfertilizing. Because of the prolonged drought, the soil environment has been affected. Specifically, the rate at which soil

microorganisms work has changed. These organisms have been working in a dry, hot environment for 12 to 48 months. This has affected the organisms efficiency in converting crop residue into a useful form that a growing plant can take up. These microbes are responsible for breaking down crop residue and releasing nutrients so they are available for the next crop. This process is called mineralization. All living plants take up nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and the other nutrients released by mineralization. The drought also has lowered the amount of nutrients removed from the soil. With lowered crop yields, less nutrients have been removed from the field. In addition, fewer mobile nutrients, like nitrogen, have not leached out of the root zone.

The surest way to know what organic nutrients have mineralized and what is available to plants is to run a soil test. Shortly after harvest is the best time to take a soil sample as there will be time to apply the recommended amount of fertilizer prior to seeding next years crop. A soil test is a very inexpensive way to prevent under- or over-fertilizing fields. The few dollars a soil test costs can potentially make you 10 to 100 times that amount in improved yield or cost savings from reduced fertilizer costs. Last summer, soil testing by Crop Quest staff found many fields that needed little, if any, fertilizer to grow the 2003 wheat crop. By testing your fields this year, you will be starting down the right path for a successful 2004 wheat crop.

Importance of Water Across the High Plains

by Ron OHanlon, President Member, National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants, CPCC-I Certified

What a difference rains can make! Most of the High Plains has been experiencing drought conditions for the past one to three years, especially the western High Plains. Because of the drought severity throughout the 2002 growing season, cropping plans have been adjusted to accommodate what appeared to be a continuation of the drought going into the summer of 2003. It is too early to predict whether the drought is over for the High Plains area, but conditions have certainly improved to allow changes in cropping plans that were not even considered a couple of months earlier. A few good rains have recharged the upper 2 to 4 feet of soil moisture profile going into the summer season. It is just a matter of time before we know if the dry conditions will return or whether we will be blessed with additional rainfall. The one thing we do know, and can do something about, is the conservation and protection of the soil moisture we currently have.

Research on crop water Table 1. Seasonal crop water usage from Nebraska, even use (ET) in Nebraska. (Inches/year) though it doesnt fit across Crop Western Central Eastern the entire area, gives a good, Corn 23-26 24-27 25-28 generalized idea regarding the Soybeans 20-22 21-23 22-25 relative relationships between Sorghum 18-20 19-22 20-23 the different crops, as seen in Winter Wheat 16-18 16-18 16-18 Table 1. Alfalfa 31-33 32-35 34-36 Because of the experiences Sugar Beets 24-26 --------from last year with depleted soil profiles, low gallonage wells chemical control or minimum tillage and the lack of rainfall, it is imperative operations. Even with irrigation, most that farmers maximize the value of crops must draw on the soil moisture rainfall for both dryland and irrigated reserve during the peak water use period crops. Table 2, from a recent Pioneer of July through August. newsletter, depicts the value of each I think many of us have become additional inch of water over the required complacent during the past few years, amount for vegetative growth. knowing that a good rain would pull our Due to the uncertainty of whether we crops through to the end. But last year will continue to receive rain at the right was a real wake-up call to implement time, it becomes necessary to save the better water management practices and to water that is already in the soil profile get our irrigation systems back into good by reducing the number of preplant working order. tillage operations and by controlling the moisture-robbing weeds, by use of Table 2. Crop Winter Wheat Grain Sorghum Corn Soybeans Sunflowers
Amount of Moisture Required for the First Bushel of Grain Approximate Yield Per Inch of Additional Moisture

10.0 6.9 11.0 9.0 5.4

4.6 bu./acre 9.4 bu./acre 13.3 bu./acre 4.5 bu./acre 150 lbs./acre

Crop Quest Perspectives

Base Your Insect/Disease Treatments on Fact

By Stan Schield, Division Manager

Not Intuition

This is not the year to base your insect control program on last years problems. Major changes in weather patterns during early 2003 may cause an emergence of insects that may not have been a major problem in the past. The only way to know for sure, though, is to conduct weekly, on-site evaluations. Corn Outlook This year, we are already seeing more normal growing conditions for our major crops. Weve received more rain, had cooler nights and higher humidity. The insects that have not been as big a problem in the past (possibly due to the hot, arid conditions) could be our biggest concerns in 2003. Banks spider mites and two-spotted spider mites were the major pests in corn the last three years, but this could change for 2003. While both of these mites are similar in appearance, they differ in several biological characteristics and in their susceptibility to pesticides. Banks mites usually appear earlier in the season and feed on lower leaves. Two-spotted spider mites usually appear mid- to late- season and feed on the entire plant. The twospotted spider mite is more difficult to control with pesticides and must be controlled early.

Other major corn pests are the European corn borer and Southwestern corn borer, which could replace spider mites as our main focus in 2003. With a lot of acres planted in Bt corn, combined with the drought conditions weve had the past two seasons, weve seen a drop in corn borer numbers. However, we also know that corn borer egg masses have a higher mortality under hotter, dryer weather. One of the concerns to stay focused on in 2003 is insecticide resistance especially when it comes to spider mites. We noticed some reduced control in parts of our service area last year that could have been related to miticide resistence. This year, were going to be looking at utilizing some other miticides that havent been used lately to combat this potential problem. As far as corn disease, were already on the lookout for gray leaf spot. This disease thrives in high humidity, moisture and carries over in crop residues. With more than 75% of last summers fields infected with gray leaf spot inoculants, the right kind of weather this summer could really activate this disease and pose a real control threat. Grain Sorghum Outlook We will still have to face perennial problems of corn earworm in the heads

of milo in late July and August. This is a field-by-field situation and should be a top concern to producers. Another concern is greenbugs. The greenbug is the most important insect pest of grain and forage sorghums. Although numbers fluctuate from year to year, greenbugs can be a limiting factor to sorghum yield in most years. Their management is complicated by the fact that greenbugs have been able to evolve and can be capable of overcoming plant resistance and organophosphate insecticides. Another common aphid found in sorghum is the corn leaf aphid. Corn leaf aphids are often mistaken for greenbugs. However, they normally do not cause serious damage to sorghum, and controls for them are rarely justified. Soybean Outlook In years past, we have seen damaging spider mites and stem borer on soybeans. Green cloverworms and loopers also may be an issue in 2003. Early, proactive control is key to fighting these pests. In conclusion, the best way to save money and protect your crop investment is to know whats happening in your fields. You need reliable, field-specific information to make money.

Mission Statement
Crop Quest is an employee-owned company dedicated to providing the highest quality agricultural services for each customer. The quest of our network of professionals is to practice integrity and innovation to ensure our services are economically and environmentally sound.
Crop Quest Agronomic Services, Inc. Main Office: Phone 620.225.2233 Fax 620.225.3199 Internet: www.cropquest.com cqoffice@cropquest.com

Employee-Owned & Customer Driven

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Crop Quest Board of Directors President: Ron OHanlon Director: Dave Wetmore Director: Jim Gleason Director: Dwight Koops Director: Cort Minor Director: Chris McInteer

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