Wheat Disease Update – April 25, 2019

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Most of the wheat crop in Virginia is currently between flag leaf emergence and heading with some wheat close to the flowering stage. Foliar diseases including powdery mildew and leaf blotch have been observed in some fields, but overall levels of disease have been low so far. As wheat reaches the flowering stage, it is susceptible to infection with Fusarium head blight (FHB), and this is the critical stage for making fungicide applications. Currently, the risk for FHB infection is low throughout Virginia. In addition, the 3-day forecast indicates risk will remain low. FHB risk can be monitored using the Fusarium Risk Assessment Tool (http://www.wheatscab.psu.edu/).
Recommended fungicides for control of FHB and DON contamination include Caramba, Prosaro, Proline, and Miravis Ace. Do not apply a strobilurin-containing fungicide after the flag leaf stage since this has the potential to increase DON concentrations in the grain. To maximize their effectiveness, fungicides for FHB and DON control should be applied at early flowering or up to one week later. Fungicides that control FHB and DON will also control foliar diseases including powdery mildew, leaf rust, stripe rust, and leaf blotch. For specific wheat disease management recommendations or assistance with disease identification, contact Dr. Hillary L. Mehl (hlmehl@vt.edu). The 2019 Fungicide Efficacy Table for Wheat can be downloaded below.

NCERA 184 Wheat fungicide table 2019_Final

Aphids in alfalfa

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Large aphids populations have been observed in alfalfa this year following insecticide applications targeting alfalfa weevil. If you haven’t scouted for alfalfa weevil in Virginia, you should. See the bottom of this post for a weevil summary.

Aphids, typically pea aphids, can be problematic when their natural enemies are disturbed. They can reduce vigor and cause wilting in first cuttings. If early cutting is not an option, several insecticides (mostly pyrethroids) are labeled for their control. Low label rates are generally effective as long as you ensure good coverage. Scout for aphids by pulling 30 random stems per field and counting the number of aphids. This guide from Iowa State can help you make treatment decisions.

Most of the aphids I have seen in Virginia alfalfa are pea aphids (left) and cowpea (right). If you think you have another species, please give me a call or send an email.

Photos Erin Hodgson, Iowa State

My thanks to Lane Grow from Southern State Cooperative for his ongoing efforts to scout and report problems in western Virginia.

Alfalfa weevil information

Scout fields by pulling 30 random stems and inspecting foliage for weevils. Weevil larvae are small, can be white, yellow, or green, and have black heads. They are often tucked tight into new growth. It’s possible to dislodge larger larvae so be careful or collect stems into some container that catches these. I use a plastic freezer bag and insect stems in the shop or truck. This guide from Penn State can help you make spray decisions. Cutting alfalfa is an option if you don’t want to use pesticides. I recommend using clorpyrifos based on spray tests in 2018 and 2019. Some people have been successful with indoxacarb (Steward) or pyrethroids (many brand-name and generic options). Coverage is essential with any product.

 

Would Soybean Yields Rise If We Started Planting in April?

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April planting is thought to have an advantage over May planting because we can shift the development of soybean to an earlier time of the year  where there is more sunlight.   More total sunlight per day should result in greater yields.  But, does this hold up in Virginia?  Likewise, an earlier variety will also shift maturity, and the critical stages of development, to a time of the year when the days are longer.  So in theory, planting early-maturing varieties early should result in the greatest yields.

My concern is that when you shift your development to earlier times of the year, you are also placing the most critical pod and seed development stages in a hotter and drier time of the year.  While you could possibly alleviate the dry part with irrigation, I know of no way to keep the temperature from rising.

To test these hypotheses, we planted 10 to 12 varieties ranging in maturity from late-3’s to early-6’s in April, May, and June at three Virginia locations in 2017 and 2018.  I’m not going to show the data because we found relative maturity responded differently depending on location, and it would just take up too much room to show all the graphs.  However, we have seen no benefit to planting soybean in April versus May, although April plantings did not usually yield less than May plantings.  Maturity group response depended more on location and when the rain fell.

So, I suggest that you base your planting date and or relative maturity decisions on your need to spread out planting or harvesting.  April planting date is OK, but not necessary for greater yields.  Keep in mind that soils are usually cooler in April, so it will normally take soybean longer to emerge than when planted in May.  Fungicides will be needed for April and early-May plantings.

Planting a slightly earlier maturing soybean is usually OK also.  For more information on maturity selection, see my previous blog, “Improving Your Soybean Variety Selection Decisions – What maturity is best?”

If you do plant in April and/or want to use early-maturing varieties, then do this on your best soils.  If you move the critical stages of development to a hotter and drier time of the year, you’ll need the greater water-holding capacity of those soils.

Full-Season Soybean Seeding Rates: Maximize Your Yield and Reduce Your Risks

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In general, high seed costs have resulted in a reduction in the number of soybean seed planted per acre.  For our full-season production system, most have reduced their seeding rate to 140,000 or less.  Some have even had success with rates as low as 80 to 100 thousand seed/acre.  My research over the years has shown that we only need, on average, about 70 to 80 thousand plants/acre to maximize our yield.  But is this too low? Yes, it could be – in some situations.

There is also interest in varying seeding rates.  I said many years ago that it appears that this is possible.  But our approach to variable-rate soybean seeding will be just the opposite of how we vary our rates with corn.  With corn, we increase seeding rate as our yield potential increases.  With soybean, we do just the opposite – we reduce our seeding rate as yield potential rises.  But, how much can we reduce seeding rate with rising yield potential?

To answer both questions – Is a final stand of 70 to 80 thousand plants too low? and How do I vary soybean seeding rates?, I analyzed over 10 years (over 25 experiments from 2003-2011) of on-farm and small-plot research to determine the optimal seeding rate for three different yield potentials.  The results along with my recommendations are shown below.

For low yields of 20-40 bushels/acre:

Plant 120 – 140 thousand seed /acre.

Why not less?  The data to the left indicates that the optimal seeding rate (area between the two vertical dotted lines) ranges between around 100 to 120 thousand seed/acre.  Why is this not my seeding rate.  There is too much variability in the data; therefore too much risk.  In some years, yields could have been reduced with this rate.  So, I’m hedging towards less risk at these yield potentials.

 

For medium yields of 40 to 55 bushels/acre:

Plant 100 – 120 thousand seed/acre.

You will notice that the optimal seeding rate has declined to around 90 to 110 thousand seed/acre.  Note that this is only about 10,000 seed less that the previous graph, but I lowered my recommendation by 20,000 seed.  Why?  There is little variability in these data; hence, I have more confidence.

 

 

For high yields of 55 to 70 bushels/acre:

Plant 90 to 110 thousand seed/acre.

Like low yield potentials, I’m starting to hedge a little here towards less risk although my data indicates that I can go lower.  There were cases where is took nearly 120,000 seed to get the maximum yields.

 

 

One comment that I get with these data is: “These data are old.  Does it still hold up with newer varieties?”  A good question!  So, I’ve conducted seeding rate experiments over the past 2 years and I’ll continue this coming year.  To summarize, the most recent data has not changed my recommendations – I think that these trends still hold true.  However, we did see some differences last year – a year of wet and cloudy conditions.  The data are below:

With our maturity group 4 trials, we saw yield continue to rise with seeding rate, and our yields were in the high range (about 50 to 60 bushels/acre).  But yields with the group 5 soybeans tended to level off at about 120 thousand seed/acre.   Why a different response and why did maturity group matter?

 

 

I think the answer is lack of sunlight.  Total photosynthetically-active radiation interception differences are one of the reasons that we get yield responses to seeding rate.  In most cases, this is a lack of leaf area; we are not intercepting all the light.  But, this was not the case in 2019.  We had what I normally consider enough leaf area, at least enough for a sunny year.  But we had less light in 2019.  The group 5 soybean did have more leaf area than the group 4 soybean; I’m assuming that these few extra leaves made up a little for the lack of light.  Cloudiness is one of the risks we take.  Still, I won’t change my recommendations based on last year since it was rather unusual.

In conclusion, if you want to chose the best full-season seeding rate in Virginia for your yield potential, my recommendations are:

Low yields: 120 to 140 thousand seed/acre

Medium yields: 100 to 120 thousand seed/acre

High yields: 90 to 110 thousand seed/acre

 

Herbicide Resistant Weeds Workshops Slated for Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware

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A series of half-day workshops will be held in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia this winter for farmers interested in learning about the problems of herbicide resistant weeds and how to manage them. Hosted by University of Maryland Extension in collaboration with Virginia Tech and University of Delaware, these workshops are designed to equip farmers with the knowledge to improve weed control on their farms.

Farmers in the mid-Atlantic area are starting to see the impact of herbicide resistant weeds on their crop yields. With many problematic weeds now found throughout the region it is essential that farmers learn the key management strategies to control these weeds.

Sessions will cover integrated weed management tactics; palmer amaranth, common ragweed and marestail control strategies; and developing a weed management plan. There is no charge to attend and lunch will be provided. Pesticide (commercial and private) and CCA continuing education credits will be offered.

Workshop locations and times are listed below. Please RSVP to the respective meeting location to provide an accurate meal count.

February 25th (12 pm to 5 pm) Old Beale Sanctuary, 369 Queen Street,Tappahannock, VA 22560

To register call the Essex County Extension Office: at (804) 443-3551

February 26th (8 am to 1 pm) St. Mary’s County UME Office, 26737 Radio Station Way, Leonardtown, MD 20650. To register call the St. Mary’s County UME Office at 301-475- 4484

March 4th (8 am to 1 pm) Harrington Volunteer Fire Company, 20 Clark St, Harrington, DE 19952. To register call the UD Carvel REC, at 302-856-2585 (ext 540)

March 5th (8 am to 1 pm) Somerset Extension Office, 30730 Park Drive, Princess Anne, MD 21853. To register call the Somerset County Extension Office at 410- 651-1350

March 6th (8  am to 1 pm) Frederick County UME Office, 330 Montevue Lane, Frederick, MD 20712. To register, call the Frederick County UME Office at 301-600- 3576

March 7th (8 am to 1 pm) Chestertown Volunteer Fire Company, 211 Maple Ave, Chestertown, MD 21620. To register call the Kent County UME Office at 410-778- 1661

For more information contact Ben Beale at 301-475-4481, Michael Flessner at 540-315-2954, Matt Morris at 301-600-3578 or Mark VanGessel at 302-856-7303.

Dicamba Training Opportunities

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If you intend to apply Engenia, Xtendimax, or FeXapan this year, you need to complete the annual dicamba specific training requirement in addition to being a certified pesticide applicator. In Virginia, this training is conducted by the registrants (manufacturers), but can also be completed in another state including registrant training, state mandated training, and state approved training. Both in person and online training is acceptable. Training is not product specific; you do not have to take the training from the registrant of the product you apply.

Make sure to document your training.

Here are links to find a training event near you or complete online:
BASF

Bayer

Corteva

University of Nebraska

Please note that some some events require pre-registration.

The following links are under revision for 2019 but will be useful shortly:
Mississippi State Extension

2019 Virginia Peanut Production Guide

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  • The new 2019 Virginia Peanut Production Guide is available at this link https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/SPES/SPES-67/SPES-67.html
  • This guide describes peanut production practices including cultivars, planting, management, and harvest. Under management, information is provided on the optimum time for nutrient and irrigation applications; describes rotations effect on yield; soil preparation, etc. It also identifies major pests for the region including weeds, insects and disease, and how those to be controlled.
  • Archived Peanut Production Guides can be accessed from: http://www.sites.ext.vt.edu/newsletter-archive/peanut-production/index.html

EPA Registration Decision for Dicamba Use in Xtend Soybeans and XtendFlex Cotton

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As you may have heard, the EPA announced Wednesday (Oct. 31, 2018) to continue dicamba registrations for over-the-top use in Xtend soybeans and cotton, through 2020, with label changes. This decision only impacts Xtendimax, Engenia, and FeXapan dicamba products. The decision does not impact dicamba products that are not labeled for over-the-top use in Xtend soybeans or XtendFlex cotton.

Summary of label changes from the EPA:

  • Two-year registration (until December 20, 2020)
  • Only certified applicators may apply dicamba over the top (those working under the supervision of a certified applicator may no longer make applications)
  • Prohibit over-the-top application of dicamba on soybeans 45 days after planting and cotton 60 days after planting
  • For cotton, limit the number of over-the-top applications from 4 to 2 (soybeans remain at 2 OTT applications)
  • Applications will be allowed only from 1 hour after sunrise to 2 hours before sunset
  • In counties where endangered species may exist, the downwind buffer will remain at 110 feet and there will be a new 57-foot buffer around the other sides of the field (the 110-foot downwind buffer applies to all applications, not just in counties where endangered species may exist)
  • Clarify training period for 2019 and beyond, ensuring consistency across all three products
  • Enhanced tank clean out instructions for the entire system
  • Enhanced label to improve applicator awareness on the impact of low pH’s on the potential volatility of dicamba
  • Label clean up and consistency to improve compliance and enforceability

Source: https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/registration-dicamba-use-dicamba-tolerant-crops

A more detailed press release with links to more information from the EPA is here: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-changes-dicamba-registration.

Annual dicamba-specific training is still required for the use of these products, in addition to a private or commercial pesticide applicators license. Therefore, training completed in 2018 needs to be repeated to legally apply in 2019. In Virginia, trainings will delivered by the registrants (BASF, Bayer, or Corteva) both in-person and online. I will post further details on when, where, or how to schedule a training as these details become available. Training requirements to apply these products in North Carolina were different than Virginia for 2018, which I anticipate will continue in 2019.

In the past, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Office of Pesticide Services has not placed additional restrictions, beyond the EPA approved federal label, on these products. I do not anticipate a change in that stance for 2019.

Improving Your Soybean Variety Selection Decisions – What maturity is best?

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Variety selection continues to be one of the most important decisions that we can make.  It is also one of the first steps to take that insure success.  It’s a hard choice because there are so many varieties available.  Still, this choice is one that will affect your profitability throughout the year.

Soybean yields in our variety tests have increased by an average of 0.4 bushels per year over the last 30 years.  Some of this increase is due to better varieties, some is due to better management.  In those tests, the highest and lowest yielding varieties varied by 20% or more (8-10 bushels).  It is therefore clear that making the wrong choice will seriously impact next year’s soybean crop.  Unfortunately, environment (rainfall, temperature, soil type, field, etc.) affects yield variation more than variety – there is always lots of year-to-year and site-to-site variation.  Still, each variety has specific strengths and weaknesses that make it more or less suited for any given situation.

Putting the Right Variety in the Right Field

With all this variation, it is very important that you place the right variety in the right field.  This will be influenced by 1) planting full-season or double-crop; 2) maturity; 3)herbicide tolerance; 4) disease and/or nematode tolerance; and finally 5) yield potential.  There are also a number of other factors that differentiate varieties such  as shattering and lodging susceptibility, height, branching ability (thin vs. bushy), seed size, seeds/pod, protein and oil content, other specific traits, etc.), but these will rarely affect your bottom line.   Although all of the top five things I listed are important, yield potential is clearly what is of most interest.  However, if you do not pay attention to numbers 1 through 4 first, your yield potential can be low.

To cover all of the things that make variety selection important would take more words than this blog will allow, so we will first focus on the choosing the right maturity.

Relative Maturity Choice: Spreading Out Environmental Risk

First, I should say something about early planting of an early-maturing variety.  I define this as planting in April or early May a variety that is about one full maturity group earlier than the maturity that is most adapted, based on historical data, for your area.  First, early-planted early-maturing varieties will always have a greater risk of poor quality seed.  The seed of these varieties are maturing during September and early October, when the weather is relatively warmer.  Warm and wet weather are perfect conditions for seed decay.  2018 has been one of the worse years for this, primarily due to excessive rainfall and much warmer September temperatures.  To the right is an example of a maturity group (MG) 3 soybean planted in April in Madison County (MG 4 is the most adapted maturity for this area).  Clearly, you don’t want to end up with this.  While early maturing varieties have their advantages, their associated risks should keep the percentage of acres planted to a minimum.

On the other hand, do not keeping all varieties in a tight maturity range.  The performance of varieties within a certain maturity range will almost always depend the environment that they experience during pod and seed fill.  If conditions are good (adequate rainfall, moderate temperatures, good soils) during that time, yields will be high.  Unfortunately, the weather cannot be predicted in our humid southeastern U.S. environment.  While late-July and early-August are generally our hottest and driest times of the year, we have just as good of a chance of going through a hot and dry period in June as well as July as well as August, and sometimes in September.          Still, on average, certain relative maturity ranges yield more than others in the south central part of Virginia.  Below are the average yield balance (no. of bushels/acre greater or less than average) of a range of soybean maturities tested in our full-season variety tests over the last 10 years, separated by location.

I’ll use our Southern Piedmont location (Blackstone) as an example of a location that shows the greatest yield gap between the earliest and latest varieties (nearly 15 bushels!).  This is likely due that area typically experiencing the more stress (hot and dry) from late July through August than other regions.

Similar but on the opposite end of the spectrum, MG 3 and 4 varieties work best at the Northern Piedmont (Orange) location.  Maturity group 5 varieties generally not as adapted in that northerly environment.

The northern and southern Coastal Plain sites (Warsaw and Suffolk) behave similarly to Blackstone – MG 5 outperform MG 4 varieties; but the yield gap between relative maturities is not as wide.

Our Eastern Shore location does not follow the same trend of MG 5’s being the highest average yielding varieties as one moves south and east.

Note that maturity group (MG) 5 varieties relatively better in the more eastern and southern locations of Virginia’s mainland, while MG 4 varieties tend to do better in our most northwestern location (Orange) and on the Eastern Shore (Painter).  While MG 3’s don’t yield as well, the group 4’s are the highest yielding.  Why?  I attribute it to two things: yield potential and temperature.  In general, this site has over time been one of our highest yielding sites.  Although rainfall patterns are similar to other locations in Virginia, it is our coolest location (and there is usually a breeze) – both likely a water effect.  Therefore, the site experiences less stress.  So, pushing the critical pod- and seed-filling stages slightly earlier in the year are not as problematic.

So, should you stick only with maturities that perform best on average?  Not necessarily.  Using Blackstone as an example, note that although the late-group 4 varieties yield less than MG 5’s on average, they yield much better than earlier 4’s.  And late-4’s yield just as well as 5’s in Orange and Suffolk.  I stress that these are averages – 10-year averages of all varieties within those relative maturity ranges.  Is it possible for the MG 4 varieties to yield more than the 5’s in Blackstone or Warsaw?  Is it possible for MG 5’s to yield more in Painter?  Yes!  It just does not happen as often.

We took that same data and calculated the probabilities, not absolute yields, of obtaining similar or greater yields of all relative maturity groupings tested.  The results are below.

Once again, to use the Blackstone data as an example, we can see that growing a late-MG 5 variety will yield at least as much as all of the other relative maturities 90% of the time (bar height).  In addition, there is a 50 to 60% chance (height of the hatched portion of the bar) that the 5’s will yield significantly more than the 4’s.  So, it seems that you will never go wrong with those varieties, correct?  You’ll probably (~80% chance) not go wrong by growing a large percentage of those varieties, but should you should you only plant MG 5’s?  I suggest that you do not grow only MG 5 varieties.  There is still a 10 to 20% chance that the 5’s will yield less than the other maturities.  Plus, there is a 60% chance that late MG 4 varieties will yield just as much as MG 5 varieties (and a 30% chance that they will yield more).

Painter is another good example.  Although there is a yield gap between the 4’s and 5’s, there is a 50 to 70% chance that MG 5 will yield as well as MG 4 varieties.  And there is a 30% chance that they will yield more!  You can use the same thought process for the other locations.

Below are the same graphs for double-crop tests.The Right Mix of Maturity Groups in Virginia.  So, what is the right mix of maturity groups?  I suggest the following:

Southern Piedmont

  • Plant 60 to 80% of your land to MG 5 varieties. We have also found that later maturities generally do better on our more droughty soils, so take that into consideration if possible.
  • Plant 20 to 30 % to late-MG 4 varieties (4.7-4.9). If possible, plant these on your higher-yielding soils.  We have found that this range of maturities have our greatest yield potential throughout Virginia if the weather cooperates.
  • Plant 0 to 20 % to mid-MG 4 varieties. These are risky, especially on droughty soils or in double-crop settings.  It is highly likely that these varieties will experience some (or a lot) of stress during the seed and pod fill stages.  Plus, seed quality will almost always be poorer than other maturities.  If you do grow these, harvest as soon as possible as seed quality will continue to degrade with time.  Don’t plant these in April or early May. This places the most critical times of development (pod and seed fill) during late-July and August.  And seed quality will be even worse since they will likely mature during the warmer part of the year.  Still, yield potential can occasionally be quite high.

Southern Coastal Plain (same comments apply regarding droughty soils and seed quality)

  • Plant 30 to 60% of your land to MG 5 varieties.
  • Plant 30 to 50 % to late-MG 4 varieties (4.7-4.9).
  • Plant 10 to 20 % to early- and mid-MG 4 varieties.

Northern Coastal Plain (same comments apply regarding droughty soils and seed quality)

  • Plant 30 to 60% of your land to MG 5 varieties. In double-crop systems, reduce that percentage to 30 to 50%.
  • Plant 30 to 50 % to MG 4 varieties (4.7-4.9). In double-crop systems, increase that to 50 to 70% late-4’s and plant 10-20% early-or mid-4’s.
  • Plant 0 to 20 % to late-MG 3 varieties.

Eastern Shore (same comments apply regarding droughty soils and seed quality)

  • Plant 20 to 40% of your land to MG 5 varieties.
  • Plant 50 to 70 % to late-MG 4 varieties (4.7-4.9).
  • Plant 10 to 20 % to early- and mid-MG 4 varieties. Plant 0-10% in double-crop.
  • Plant 10 to 20% to late-MG 3 varieties.

Northern Piedmont (same comments apply regarding droughty soils and seed quality)

  • Plant 0 to 20% of your land to MG 5 varieties. Don’t plant MG 5’s double-crop.
  • Plant 60 to 80 % to MG 4 varieties (4.7-4.9).
  • Plant 10 to 20 % to mid- or late-MG 3 varieties.

The proportion of MG 4 and 5 will ultimately depend on your risk tolerance.  Note that as you move west and north, the risk of an early frost is greater; therefore, growing lots of late-maturing varieties may not be a great idea, especially double-crop, and the probability of slightly earlier maturities doing better is greater.

Hopefully, this will give you some guidance in choosing your maturities within the next few weeks.

IMPORTANT:  Keep in mind that the yields and yield balances shown are an average of all varieties in those relative maturity groupings.  This does not mean that every variety in those grouping perform in this manner on every field.  Make sure that you first the variety that meets your match your field’s pest management needs; then, select a high-yielding variety within that relative maturity range.

 

Virginia Soybean Yield Contest

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The purpose of the Virginia Soybean Yield Contest is to emphasize and demonstrate the practices necessary to produce maximum economic yields, to recognize those producers who grow high-yielding soybeans, and to gather data on the practices utilized by these outstanding producers.
The Virginia Soybean Association in cooperation with Virginia Cooperative Extension sponsors this program.
There are four Soybean Yield Contest categories: 1) Full-Season, Non- irrigated; 2) Double-Crop, Non-irrigated; and 3) Irrigated (Full-Season or Double-Crop; and 4) Most Efficient. A full-season system is defined as the grain or seed harvest of one summer crop (soybean in this case) from the same field in one year. Double-crop is defined as planting soybean immediately following grain harvest of barley or wheat; thus harvesting two crops from the same field in the same year. If soybeans are planted after a cover, silage, or hay crop of small grain, then the entry will be considered full- season. If field has been irrigated one or more times, the entry will be considered an irrigated field and the will be placed into the irrigated contest. Yield alone (bushels/acre) determines the winners in the first three categories.
Notice of intent to participate must be submitted to your county/city Extension Agent’s office 5 days before harvest or in an acceptable time frame for your Extension Agent. Extension Agents shall maintain the original set of record sheets and applications of all participants and send a copy to Dr. David L. Holshouser, Extension Agronomist, Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center, 6321 Holland Rd, Suffolk, VA 23437 by Dec. 31.
Application forms and a complete set of rules and regulations can be found on the Soybean Yield Contest website.