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Author Archives: Mark Lawson (Indiana)
Changing Seasons, Changing Times
Falling temperatures and falling leaves, it’s not hard to figure out how this season came to be known as “fall”. Turning back clocks and getting some field work done. We don’t see much fall plowing anymore but we do see spray rigs and fertilizer trucks in the fields. Fall weed control programs are now a part of the cropping system. It used to be plow, disc, plant, cultivate, harvest and fall tillage if you had heavy black ground. It was … Continue reading
Posted in 2011 Harvest, Corn, Harvest, Herbicides, Hybrid selection, Syngenta
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Managing Stalk Lodging and Assessing Yield Performance
September brought the rains we wanted in July and August, a bit over 5 inches at this writing and it’s raining now. The early yield reports reflect the truism that “rain makes grain”. One farmer from the southern part of our county reported a corn yield of some 90 bushels. At the other extreme, I rode with a customer while the yield monitor was bouncing between 220 and 250 bushels per acre. The extremely dry weather caused hybrids to die … Continue reading
Posted in 2011 Harvest, Harvest, Hybrid selection, Indiana, Stalk lodging, Syngenta
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A Deep Bench at the Demonstration Plots
It’s “field day” or “plot tour” season in my world. I have, for several years, tried to make the traditional “pork chop” tour something more than just looking at the hot new hybrid release or the latest thing in soybeans. Coaches and sports commentators often refer to a team’s “deep bench” when the team has a large number of very talented players. The Syngenta spectrum of seeds, seed treatments, crop protection and disease control products makes for a deep bench. … Continue reading
Posted in Disease, Fungicides, Indiana, Syngenta
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Stress, Golf and the 2011 Indiana Corn Harvest
Lee Trevino, the famous golfer once commented that “Stress is playing for $50 per hole and you don’t have $50”. The amendment to Mr. Trevino’s quote could be “Stress is trying to produce a corn crop with 12 inches of total rainfall and you need 25 inches.” Indiana now shows up on the Palmer Drought Index maps as having moderate drought/extreme drought conditions over much of the state of Indiana. As frustrating as it is to watch, there are some … Continue reading
Posted in Indiana, Profitability
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How is Heat Affecting Indiana Corn?
It’s really hot. As I write this from my comfortable air conditioned office, the thermometer in the shade of the back porch is registering an even 100° F, and the sensor near the corn plot is reading 106° F. Much of the corn in my part of central Indiana has started pollination and my neighbors are worried whether these temperatures might affect the pollen activity and yield potential. Here is a quick summary of the biology of corn pollination: Anther … Continue reading
Posted in Corn, Indiana
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The Fireworks Might Not Be Over
The 4th of July fireworks and picnics are over but there may be some fireworks in the field yet this summer. I have been monitoring four sets of insect traps for the past five weeks and just put out two additional sets of traps. We’ve been catching corn earworm moths, fall armyworm moths and true armyworm moths. In early July, I set the first traps for western bean cutworm (WBCW). A week later, I had two WBCW moths in a … Continue reading
Posted in Corn Earworm, Insects, Western Bean Cutworm
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Growing Degree Days to Determine Crop Emergence
We are told that patience is a virtue, but in mid-April with rain every three or four days and cool temperatures (soil temperature one recent morning was 50 degrees), patience is a commodity in short supply in farm country. The weather has its own agenda and no interest in ours. Right now the weather is ranging from a low in the 40s to a high in the upper 60s. That makes the mean temperature about 50 degrees. One formula for … Continue reading
Posted in Corn, Great Lakes, Indiana, Planting, Syngenta
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2,000 More Seeds
I hesitate to mention that corn in the South is already emerging because it makes Midwestern farmers really antsy. The present cold weather notwithstanding, we are very close to putting the Corn Belt crop in the ground for 2011. What’s more, today’s commodity prices have every farmer eager to reach for the sky in yields, and the little extra input needed to reach those high yields has a much higher probability of returning a profit at $6.00 corn than when … Continue reading
Posted in Disease, Hybrid selection, Indiana, Planting, Planting Population, Profitability, Syngenta
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Think Back
Recent thunderstorms and a slight change in the air are indications that spring is beginning to stir from winter’s slumber. The four seasons are one of the blessings visited upon our little planet due as much to the tilt of the axis and effect of our moon as our relative proximity to our sun. I have been fortunate to see quite a few springs on the farm and it’s fun to reflect on the changes I’ve witnessed. My grandfather started … Continue reading
Posted in Great Lakes, Indiana
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National Farm Machinery Show Recap
It’s been a busy two weeks on and off the farm. Snow came, snow went, and then snow came again. The National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky also came and went as it has been doing for 46 years now. It’s been a tough winter, we are all suffering from a bit of cabin fever, and the NFMS must be a proven cure for that particular ailment – which would account for the record attendance this year. Our Syngenta … Continue reading