Mid-Atlantic Crop Management School

Date: November 13‐15, 2012
Location: Princess Royale Hotel and Conference Center, Ocean City, MD

The Mid-Atlantic Crop Management School offers a 2 ½‐day format with a variety of breakout sessions. Individuals needing training in soil and water, nutrient, crop, and pest management can create their own schedule by choosing from 5 session options. Emphasis is placed on new and advanced information with group discussion and interaction encouraged.

This school is designed for anyone interested in crop management issues, including: agronomists; crop consultants; extension educators; farmers and farm managers; pesticide dealers, distributors, and applicators; seed and agrichemical company representatives; soil conservationists; and state department of agriculture personnel.
- Jack Rabin

Fall Soil Testing

- Dan Kluchinski
Fall is a good time of year to evaluate the past season’s successes and failures and plan strategies for the season ahead. 

Give special consideration to determining soil nutrient levels and examining weed problems and infestations. Through proper record keeping, planning, and evaluation, you can better handle some of the effects of the previous growing season. 

Webinar on Corn Drought Problems and on Storage

Although we were not hit as hard by the drought as other states, there is some evidence of diseases coming in on some ear tips from those fields that were significantly effected by the drought and are still awaiting harvest . The Plant Management Network, publisher of the Focus on Corn webcast resource, is re-opening two webcasts through December 31, 2012: “Ear and Kernel Mold Biology and Management” by Dr. Charles Woloshuk at Purdue University and “Corn Storage” by Dr. Ken Hellevang at North Dakota State University.
“Ear and Kernel Mold Biology and Management” ( http://bit.ly/RlmtmH ) helps corn growers and crop consultants learn how to recognize the important ear rot diseases of corn; grasp the relationship between ear rot diseases and mycotoxin contamination; learn the basic principles of ear rot disease management; and understand how to reduce the risk of spoilage.
The “Corn Storage” webcast ( http://bit.ly/MqUkWz ) helps guide the user through proper corn storage management practices, including preparation, monitoring, and aeration.

Submitted by Zane Helsel

Horsenettle in pasture and hayfields

I have seen a marked increase in the number of pastures and hay fields infested with Horsenettle this season.  This weed is a major concern since it can limit the marketability of hay due to the sharp prickles found on the stem and can quickly take over a field due to the large number of seeds produced and spreading rhizomes.  Fall herbicide applications can be effective in managing this weed.  for more information, please visit the Mid-Atlantic Pasture Management Guide.  http://www.rec.udel.edu/weedscience/PHGuideWeb/PHWeedguide.pdf

Stephen Komar

Corn Population-Check Now for Next Spring

As we approach corn harvest, now is a good time to check each of your fields and hybrids to see how they look following the mid-summer drought many experienced. Because breeders have been breeding for increased yields by, among other things, increased population tolerance, many farmers have been increasing seeding rates over the years. I have seen several fields where ear size and fill suffered from too high a population. Here are some signs of stressed corn. Small ear length and girth(aka barrel size/circumference) is a sign of drought before tasseling; missing kernals randomly over the cob means stress at pollination; and barren tips( 1-2 inches or more) indicates stress at the end of pollination and shortly thereafter. All of these are likely a result of too high a population with insufficient rainfall. Another symptom this year is where some cob tips are poking through the husk which is a result of the recent rains following the earlier dry period. If you planted several hybrids in a field this will be a good check to see which might be the more tolerant of higher populations. If you saw only random spots of the above symptoms throughout your fields you can probably keep planting at the same seeding rate, but if you saw substantial amounts of the stress indicators you may want to reduce seeding rate next year by 2000 seeds/A. Such a small drop probably wont effect yields even in a good rainfall year and will save you a few dollars in seed costs. You also should check potash levels, because low levels can accentuate drought stress. Other factors such as planting date, compaction, etc. could have affected your corn’s tolerance to drought so think about your planting and management practices differences before concluding it was population alone.  

Zane R. Helsel