What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope
What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope
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Our area received above average rainfall in May which changed a once parched wheat crop into one with great potential. According to the Colorado Mesonet, May rainfall in our area ranged from 2.2 inches at the Burlington south weather station to 4.4 at the Akron weather station. Every producer I have spoken with over the last couple of weeks is planning to apply or has already applied a fungicide to prevent an outbreak of wheat stripe rust given the conditions that it thrives. An extension top dress nitrogen experiment is showing a large...
Topdressing nitrogen on wheat allows for improved nitrogen use efficiency over a single nitrogen application at the beginning of the season. Last year’s drought left wheat with a slow start and the question of whether germination occurred in time for vernalization to occur. Some reason for optimism was brought by rainfall on March 15. Since that time wheat has progressed from mostly non-emerged to several leaves and in some cases near a closed canopy. With this being noted jointing is now near. Topdress nitrogen application should be c...
Several organisms help protect aboveground growth of plants. Among them are predators of pests, parasitoids, lichens and pollinators. Predators can be birds, spiders or insects. Parasitoids are wasps. Lichens are symbiosis between algae or cyanobacteria and fungal hyphae. Pollinators are insects, bats or birds. Predation of pests reduces pest damage to crops. Lacewings and ladybeetles are the most frequently introduced predators to production fields. Mountain Bluebirds eat grasshoppers and many caterpillars. Black capped chickadees eat a wide...
One limitation of our irrigation capacity is the potential to create saline, sodic or saline-sodic soil conditions. A saline soil has excessive water-soluble salts in the soil solution. This inhibits the plant’s ability to uptake water. A sodic soil has excessive cations bound to exchange sites. This condition degrades soil structure, eventually forming large hardened clods. If both conditions are present the soil is called saline-sodic. Our alkaline soils are susceptible to both conditions. Some wells have high calcium and/or sodium c...
Overuse of a crop leads to long term promotion of its pests and diseases. While disaster is frequently averted with breeding efforts and good IPM. A national scale failure of a crop is always a possibility. In the United States, the corn leaf blight epidemic of 1970 was a large-scale agricultural disaster. In Ireland a combination of potato blight, economic abuses of the British empire and overuse of a single crop led to the Great Famine. More recently much of Texas’ grain sorghum crop was destroyed by the sugarcane aphid. Alfalfa is easily the...
Crop production management can mean any aspect of farming from the rotation order to the investment level within a year. Corn is often referred to as management sensitive. Implying that corn yields are highly correlated with what you put into the crop. Hybrid grain sorghum is often referred to as management insensitive. This reputation is in some part a result of the challenge of designing experiments that will show sorghum’s reaction to different management techniques. Statistically speaking, sorghum tends to have a higher coefficient of v...
Crop production management can mean any aspect of farming from the rotation order to the investment level within a year. Corn is often referred to as management sensitive. Implying that corn yields are highly correlated with what you put into the crop. Hybrid grain sorghum is often referred to as management insensitive. This reputation is in some part a result of the challenge of designing experiments that will show sorghum’s reaction to different management techniques. Statistically speaking, sorghum tends to have a higher coefficient of v...
Safety is always a major concern on farms. In high school, my power mechanics teacher asked the class one day “what is the most dangerous profession in the U.S?” His answer was farming. I don’t know if he had data to back up his statement, but the intent of the question was to point out how many hats farmers wear. The reasoning was farmers are distracted from focusing on safety from having many other career tasks. Farmers are heavy equipment operators, hazardous material handlers, biologists, mechanics and businesspeople. The risks of farmi...
Alternative crops bring both benefits and challenges that are not present in the major crops of our region. Growing an uncommon crop means pest pressure will likely be lower. It also means finding a market can be unreliable. Several alternative crops have potential in our region. They also come with a higher risk of crop failure. Being a cutting-edge producer can bring pride and joy. But, producing crops that are not common in the region means having to search harder for answers to challenges. Canola is a major crop in the Canadian great...
The biggest hurdle to implementing innovation is people stuck in their ways. Scientific research finds improvements using methodical efforts to test the validity of potential changes. For these improvements to be effective, people who practice in the effected field must accept and expand the use of the improvements to a commercial scale. In my research experience I have been lucky enough to study under some greats. After accepting a transitional retirement program, Elmer Gray continues to work pro bono to improve agriculture and public health k...
Integrated pest management is a commonly used term in agronomy. IPM implies the use of multiple tools to control pests in your fields. While the name lends itself to control of unwanted animals, IPM is used as a strategy to control any unwanted organism. Let us look at some of the tools; why they work and why adaptation to current conditions is necessary to keep as many tools viable as possible. Tool 1 Crop rotation has been used for centuries to avoid pests. Insects will lay their eggs in areas where they expect the host plant to be present...
