newsletter

July 2016
newsletter
Ag PhD Field Day July 28th!
by
BRIAN HEFTY
brian@agphd.com
Join us this summer at the free Ag PhD Field Day on Thursday, July
28th! We are located just 15 minutes from the Sioux Falls airport,
and less than 10 miles from both Interstate 90 and Interstate 29.
Our special guest speakers this year will be Nebraska football coach and Hall
of Famer Tom Osborne and Mike Golic, former NFL player and co-host of the
popular “Mike & Mike” show on ESPN Radio.
Celebrity Guest Speakers
This will be our largest event ever, with more to see and do than any Field Day
we’ve had in the past. Here are some more of the highlights:
Irrigated corn and non-irrigated corn, soybean, and wheat plots with
yield champions from across the country. We are calling these our
“First Steps” plots, as while it is unrealistic to expect these farmers
to set national yield records on our farm right away, they are at least
taking the first steps to ultra-high yields. This year you will not only
get to see their plots, we will have a special section of each plot
where you can walk through and get a better look at everything.
Plus, each of our First Steps’ farmers will be at the Field Day speaking
throughout the day! Check out agphd.com for the complete list of
record-setting farmers who will attend.
We’ll have more demonstrations (weather-permitting) on planting,
spraying, harvesting, tillage, tiling, and more. As always, we’ll have
some ride and drive activities you can participate in, too.
Darren and I will give you a special guided tour of our research plots,
new technologies plots, First Steps plots, and more!
Mike Golic of ESPN’s “Mike & Mike”
Former Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne
In addition to listening to some of the best high-yield farmers in the country during the day, you
can also hear from other great guest speakers on topics such as estate planning, drainage law, and
biotechnology.
See our schedule on Page 2 for our agenda. We will have kid’s activities, great food throughout the
day, and a few special surprises for you, too!
Please go to www.agphd.com for more details,
including hotel and camping options.
PLEASE PRE-REGISTER AT WWW.AGPHD.COM
IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND!
Even if at the last minute you can’t make it, that’s
fine, but we want you pre-registered so you don’t
have to wait in line to get in. Our event is free,
but registration at the Field Day or in advance is
required. If you pre-register you can simply pick
up your packet at the gate and go right in. Preregistration takes 1 minute or less, so please go
to www.agphd.com and fill out our simple form.
Thanks!!
Ag PhD Field Day in 2015
THURSDAY
AG PHD FIELD DAY JULY
28, 2016
SCHEDULE
On the Hefty Farm - Baltic, SD
8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Live Planting, Harvesting, Spraying, Tillage, & Tiling in the Field Demo Area; Case IH Ride
& Drive; Exhibitor Booths; Kid’s Area; and many other activities on all day
8:00 – 8:20 am
8:45 – 9:05 am
9:30 – 9:50 am
10:20 – 10:40 am
10:40 am
10:40 – Noon
Brian & Darren give their evaluations on the western 1/4th of the plots
Brian & Darren give their evaluations on the next 1/4th of the plots
Brian & Darren give their evaluations on the next 1/4th of the plots
Brian & Darren give their evaluations on the eastern 1/4th of the plots
Vanguard Squadron Aerial Show
Lunch & guest speakers including Tom Osborne, Mike Golic, and Robb Fraley
Noon – 2:00 pm
Meet & greet with Osborne, Golic, Fraley, and others
12:20 pm – 40 Minute Sessions Begin:
• At Case IH/Titan Machinery Tent – Brian Hefty (Soil Testing & More)
• At AgroLiquid Tent - David Hula (Current National Corn Yield Champion)
• At FMC Tent - Randy Dowdy (Previous National Corn Yield Champion)
• At AmVac Tent - Steven Albracht (Ultra-High Yield Corn Farmer)
• At Bayer Tent - High Yield Wheat farmer panel
• At Valent Tent – High Yield Corn & Soybean farmer panel
• At UPI - High Yield Corn & Soybean farmer panel
• At Monsanto Tent – Dr. Robert Fraley
• At East Shop - Drainage Lawyer John Kolb
• At Morton Center - Estate Planning
1:10 pm – 40 Minute Sessions Repeat
2:00 pm – 60 Minute Sessions Begin:
• At Morton Center – Ag PhD Radio Show (special guests Tom Osborne, Mike Golic, Dr. Robert Fraley, and
more)
• At AgroLiquid Tent - David Hula
• At FMC Tent - Randy Dowdy
• At AmVac Tent - Steven Albracht
• At Bayer Tent - High Yield Wheat farmer panel
• At Valent Tent – High Yield Corn & Soybean farmer panel
• At UPI - High Yield Corn & Soybean farmer panel
• At Monsanto Tent – Special Guest Speaker
• At East Shop - Drainage Lawyer John Kolb
3:15 – 4:00 pm
Corn: Soybeans: Spring Wheat: First Steps Plot Tour Featuring Brian & Darren vs. Corn, Soybean, & Wheat Yield Champs
Randy Dowdy – Valdosta, GA; David Hula – Charles City, VA;
Steven Albracht – Hart, TX; Matt Swanson – LaHarpe, IL
Matt Miles – McGehee, AR; Dan Arkels – Peru, IL;
Mark Ruff – Centerville, OH; Kevin Matthews – East Bend, NC
Lee Lubbers – Gregory, SD; Colin Chopic – Toledo, WA;
Andy Gates – Mohall, ND; Perry Galloway – Augusta, AR
4:15 – 5:00 pm
Brian & Darren talk in the Field Demo area on the west side of the plots
6 pm – Field Day concludes
2
July 2016
www.agphd.com
Soybean Fungicide & Insecticide
What will you spray in your soybean fields yet this summer? Here are 4
options that could improve your yield and profitability.
by
BRIAN HEFTY
brian@agphd.com
1 INSECTICIDE. If you are looking for “consistent results”, nothing
beats insecticide if you have harmful bugs show up. Normal
pyrethroids like Silencer only cost $2 for the full rate! If you are
worried about spider mites, invest an extra couple of bucks and
step up to Brigade (bifenthrin) or Lorsban (chlorpyrifos). Since insecticide is so cheap now, it doesn’t take many
soybean aphids, bean leaf beetles, grasshoppers, or other yield-robbing pests to justify treatment. The key
to controlling insects is to spray when their numbers are low. That way you prevent them from reproducing
and from doing a lot of feeding on your plants. Remember that every bite an insect takes from your crop, the
greater chance that plant will catch a disease, as a bite is an open wound.
2 FUNGICIDE. 10 years ago you probably didn’t even think about using a fungicide in soybeans, but here’s what’s
changed. Fungicide prices have crashed (many farmers are using a half rate of fungicide now for $3 per acre).
Crop prices have doubled. Yields have gone up significantly. Reduced tillage across the country means fewer
diseases are buried and more are present in crops each year. There are far more insects than ever, so more plant
damage means more entry points for disease. All these factors have led to far more fungicide use and much
better results. Unfortunately, you won’t find consistency like you will with insecticide, mainly because for best
results you must spray prior to seeing any disease issues. Some years you will gain 5 bushels per acre. Other
years you may gain next to nothing. All you should really care about is if, on average, spraying a fungicide pays,
which we’ve found it does. However, it is common to read an article somewhere with the headline, “Fungicide
Doesn’t Pay in Soybeans!” The problem with most of those articles is they figure $20 to $25 for the insecticide.
If I’m already out there applying herbicide, insecticide, or foliar fertilizer, my application cost is zero, and
depending on which fungicide I pick, I’m only investing $3 to $5. Are the economics a little different when your
cost is $3 instead of $25? Of course! And that’s why fungicide in soybeans typically pays.
3 PGR (Plant Growth Regulator). My dad used to call these products snake oil or my favorite, “foo-foo dust”.
Today, there is still snake oil available, but there are also some good, proven products that can help your crop.
Look at the products used by some of the highest-yielding soybean farmers in the country. Plant growth
hormones, enzymes, and other PGRs are becoming much more popular, because the science and the results
are getting better every year. Our best suggestion is to try some things out on a small scale and very closely
monitor the results. Let’s say you invest $4 in a product like MegaGro (PGR labeled as a patented crop safener
for Roundup in Roundup crops). You could triple your money if you gain just over one bushel of soybeans.
However, will that one bushel per acre gain show up on your yield monitor? Not unless you look really, really
closely. We suggest weighing out your field trials and giving proper evaluation to anything new you try.
4 FOLIAR FERTILIZER. This is where you will likely have the least amount of consistency. Here’s why. Between
N, P, K, S, Ca, Mg, Mn, Zn, Bo, Cu, Mo, and Fe, can you tell me which of those nutrients will be the yield-limiting
factor in your soybeans this year? Will that one nutrient be the yield-limiting factor on every square foot of
your soybean fields? Have you thoroughly tested your soil and used plant tissue analysis so you have data to
figure out which foliar fertilizer product might be best for you? Yes, you can try a blended product like AC-97
or Ferti-Rain, but would you be better off spraying one individual nutrient on your crop? These are some of the
challenges with foliar fertilizer. On our farm, we are using foliar fertilizer on every acre, but before you do that,
I’d suggest you get lots of data and run some experiments so you best invest your dollars.
In summary, you should use insecticide if harmful bugs
show up at realistic economic threshold levels. Fungicide
is also a no-brainer. PGRs and foliar fertilizer products are
things you should be trying so you find what works for
you. We have been experimenting for years on our farm,
so now when we hit that R2 to R3 stage in soybeans, we
spray fungicide, insecticide, PGR, and foliar fertilizer all
in one. It is one of the steps that has helped our average
yields go from 35 to over 60 in the last 12 years.
Drain Tile Special
$0.24/foot, 4-inch drain tile
Regular and Narrow Slit
Call Hefty Seed Company at 1-800-274-3389
www.agphd.com
Ask for Jerry Weiland
July 2016
3
CORN ROOTWORM BEETLES
1. An increase in conventional corn acres
2. Some farmers cutting back or eliminating planting
time insecticide
3. A switch from SmartStax to above ground only Bt’s
4. A mild winter
How do you gauge the type of rootworm pressure you had
earlier this year? There are three ways.
1. The rootworm beetles that are in your corn and
soybean fields now are the adult stage of the corn
rootworm larvae that fed on your corn roots earlier
this season. If you’re seeing lots of them, you really
had a problem.
2. Lodging in your corn field is a sign of a poor root
system or a poor stalk. If there was heavy feeding on
the roots, corn rootworm is likely the culprit.
3. Do some root digs. Earlier in the season, you could
dig up corn roots and actually see the little white
larvae of the corn rootworm eating your root system.
Now, you can see the end result of their feeding.
Depending on how many rings of nodal roots got
eaten off, the industry has a rating scale used to show
the severity of the problem. If there’s enough feeding
to notice, you need to do something.
WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW?
This is the easiest and most obvious solution . . . SPRAY
THE BEETLES! To lessen rootworm pressure next year, you
can spray the beetles now, but you need to do it quickly.
Once the beetles have laid eggs on or in the soil, your spray
In terms of products that can kill corn rootworm beetles,
there are many. The cheaper pyrethroids like Silencer (2.563.84 oz/acre) and Mustang Maxx (2.72 to 4.0 oz/acre) are
highly effective even at lower rates and only cost a couple
bucks an acre or less. Be sure to scout before treating as you
could add a tankmix partner like a foliar feed or a fungicide
with it to save a trip. Also, be on the lookout for spider mites,
especially if you’ve been hot and dry. You may need to switch
to a bifenthrin product like Brigade or a combination product
like Hero or even a chlorpyrifos like Lorsban Advanced to
control them. If those options are not effective in your area,
a miticide may be used instead, but the miticide may not kill
your rootworm beetles.
Corn rootworm beetles normally aren’t a huge threat
themselves, but they lay eggs for next year’s corn rootworm
larvae, so get them under control now to lessen your
rootworm pressure next year. If you’ve had a bad rootworm
issue this year, you’ll need to consider going back to
rootworm Bt corn or using a planting-time insecticide next
year.
connect. discover. innovate.
July 2016
DARREN HEFTY
application becomes little more than a revenge kill. Sure, in
the unlikely event that there is an overwhelming amount of
beetles in your field, you could stop them from feeding on
corn silks. If all the silks get clipped off before pollination, you
will have ears with no kernels on them. I’m not trying to scare
you about that, but it does happen to someone almost every
year.
2016
4
by
darren@agphd.com
2016 has been a bad year for corn rootworm control. There
are 4 big reasons why.
www.agphd.com
Post Harvest Burndown
If you are raising a crop that will be harvested in
the summer or early fall, a post-harvest burndown
is often essential. The big question each year is
which herbicide program should you use? We all
know that by avoiding tillage as much as possible,
you can reduce erosion, conserve moisture, and
build soil organic matter and soil structure. That’s
why herbicides are so important. Here are the top
products we suggest you consider, as well as the
products we usually avoid when making agronomic
recommendations for burndown.
PRODUCTS WE TYPICALLY RECOMMEND:
1 Roundup. I know there are lots of resistant weeds
out there, but let’s face it – Roundup still kills 95%
of weed species on most farms. For $2 to $4 per
acre, it makes a nice tankmix partner.
2 Distinct. If you use the 2 oz rate, you’re only
talking around $4 per acre. Yes, there is a trace
of dicamba in there, but the main weed killer is
diflufenzopyr, which we love. Distinct is simply
Status without the corn safener for a much lower
price.
pretty
effective by BRIAN HEFTY
brian@agphd.com
on a
lot of
weeds in
burndown, and they leave your rotation options
fairly open. The big concern we have is spray
drift. I’d rather have you use Distinct. You’ll have
less drift risk and better weed control for similar
money. For a late fall burndown when drift is no
longer a big risk, we have used extremely high
rates of 2,4-D or dicamba to control marestail and
other winter annuals with great success. If you
want, you can do the same with the 6 oz rate of
Distinct.
Additional burndown tips include waiting for some
regrowth on weeds before spraying, making your
application when the weather is relatively warm
(above 70 degrees), using the correct spray adjuvants
(usually AMS and crop oil or NIS), and getting good
spray coverage.
3 Valor. Valor may not be perfect either as a
burndown or as a residual herbicide, but it’s
inexpensive, can be used in front of many different
crops, and has good activity on many of the
Roundup-resistant weeds.
4 Sharpen. While Sharpen is more expensive than
Valor with less residual, its burndown activity is
better and faster.
PRODUCTS WE TRY TO AVOID:
1 Atrazine. We don’t like the carryover risk or the
environmental concerns. You and I both know
that atrazine has the same LD50 as table salt, but
most city people think it’s terribly dangerous.
Since atrazine can leach, every farmer needs to be
careful about when and where they use atrazine.
2 Long-lasting herbicides. This includes Pursuit,
Ally, Tordon, Milestone, and a handful of others.
You may know what you want to plant this fall
or next spring, but all of these products have
the potential to last beyond next year. Use great
caution with long-residual herbicides.
3 2,4-D and straight dicamba. You can certainly use
2,4-D and dicamba if you want to. They are both
www.agphd.com
July 2016
5
Turning plant tissue tests into
fertilizer recommendations
Are you sufficiently alarmed? I am, just by reading
that title. Can you turn a plant tissue test result
into a fertilizer application that will make your farm
money consistently? Before you can do that, you
really have to understand your soils.
Example 1: Your soil is borderline low in copper but
great in everything else. Surprise, surprise – your
plant tissue test comes back a little low in copper
even though you are getting perfect weather this
year. Will a foliar application of copper make a
difference? Odds of success are pretty high in this
scenario.
Example 2: Your soil is dramatically low in copper.
Now your plant tissue test results say you’re
super low in copper. Will a foliar app make a big
difference? It should, but a single application of a
micronutrient isn’t going to get you maximum yield.
In this case, multiple foliar applications or a good
soil application early in the season is what it will
likely take to achieve top yields.
by
DARREN HEFTY
darren@agphd.com
applied
fertility
program
and your foliar apps. The big ones like N, P, K, Ca,
Mg, and sulfur really need to be in good shape
coming out of your soil program or you’re in trouble
before you even start. The only way to really know
this is to take good soil samples across your farm.
If you KNOW there is plenty of nitrogen in the soil,
but your first couple of tissue tests say you are a
little low, it’s very possible you’ll hit that N soon,
and additional applications aren’t necessary. On
the other hand, if you were trying to get by with
relatively low levels of soil N, and tissue test after
tissue test comes back low to deficient on N, you’ve
got to get more nitrogen out there.
Can plant tissue tests help? Absolutely. I believe
they’ve saved our farm a ton of money on fertilizer
we would’ve applied incorrectly, and they have
helped shift our program to things that make us
money. Just don’t get too carried away applying
Example 3: Your soil is borderline low in copper and
things in-season if you don’t know what’s in the
very low in phosphorus. Your plant tissue test says
soil that will come available with some rain or
you need both phosphorus and copper but you
just bigger roots. Also, we don’t have an exact
only apply copper because that’s what you’re doing
formula for turning tissue tests into fertilizer
everywhere else. Will you get a good return on this
recommendations. Our suggestion is to use
application? I’d be very surprised if it helped at all
the data for this year’s foliar and next year’s soil
since a primary nutrient, phosphorus, was more
applications. Try some things out. Monitor your
likely the yield limiting factor.
results closely, and keep working to build your soil,
All these scenarios are pretty obvious, but when you your yields, and your profits for both the short-term
pull plant tissue tests through the year on a weekly
and the long-term.
basis you will begin to see patterns show up on your
farm. If a micronutrient is trending low all season,
you probably need to address it with both your soil
titanmachinery.com
6
July 2016
www.agphd.com
Advanced Chemistry for Soybeans
Benefits of Priaxor Fungicide
®
n
Advanced Plant Health benefits
n
Longer lasting disease protection
n
More consistent performance for maximum yield potential
n
Additional mode of action for resistance management
Priaxor fungicide provides
more consistent performance
for maximum yield potential
2012–2015 National On-Farm Trial Yield Results*
Priaxor Fungicide
54.4
UTC
52
+4.5 bu/A
53
54
55
To learn more, visit:
PlantHealthEducation.com.
58.9
Consistency = 92%
56
57
58
59
60
bu/A
Positive Yield Response 92% of the Time*
Consistency = 92%
1
18
35
52
69
86
103
120
137
154
171
188
205
222
239
256
273
290
307
324
341
358
375
392
409
426
443
460
477
494
Priaxor Fungicide – UTC
(bu/A)
10
8
6
4
2
0
-2
-4
-6
-8
-10
(n=541)
*2012–2015. Summary of all on farm trials. Priaxor fungicide 4 fl oz/A. Applications R1-R4
with the majority at R3. Consistency = % of trials when the Priaxor fungicide treatment out
yielded the UTC.
Technical Information Bulletin
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Corn Rootworm Beetles
Soybean Fungicide &
Insecticide
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C H A N G E S E RV I C E R E Q U E S T E D
47506 252nd St.
Baltic, South Dakota 57003-5961
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