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Post by SWMan on Jul 10, 2021 12:55:01 GMT -6
Minor maturity difference with Moddus treated being slower to head. Did not check head length because it was really hot and had family with me. Got a whopping tenth of an inch on that field yesterday evening, should put it over the top...lol  |
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Post by SWMan on Jul 10, 2021 23:33:09 GMT -6
Sprayed one of my last fields of wheat this evening. Only one fungicide pass at heading and one has to wonder if that is even necessary, but fungicide on wheat has been a no-brainer here every other year so doing it anyway. Took this picture from a hill, little bit hazy but if you look in the distance right above the red arrow is the second highest point in Manitoba. I think it's around 2600' elevation and while it might not be much for someone in Alberta, the Turtle Mountain is all we have here...ha ha As a point of reference that "mountain" is about 15 miles away and the half I was spraying on is 1800' elevation at the bottom end. Water runs pretty good here, also that mountain range is the starting point of the Pembina river.  |
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Post by shmiffy on Jul 11, 2021 7:26:26 GMT -6
That’s a big change in elevation. Hutts sprayed a section of durum at heading with fungicide. hill tops are burnt. Just the water runs and low spots where the crop is stretching out. 20 miles south hutts cut 2 rounds around a big field, first round has two little swaths except for the very low spots it’s a nice green swath. Second round is none existent except the very low spots. Crop burnt right up.
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Post by slipclutch on Jul 11, 2021 8:31:32 GMT -6
I have peas that are about 10” high with two pods per plant and like 5 aborted flowers. Four to five seed per pod. I’m thinking 20 bushel crop.
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Post by SWMan on Jul 13, 2021 21:43:44 GMT -6
Sorry to hear that slipclutch, sounds like you aren't alone either. Are all crops in similar condition? Personally my barley seems to be taking the dryness the worst, wheat on same section is doing much better. Barley is quite variable. I sprayed it this morning regardless, probably a third of the field(poor or saline ground) has little viable leaf left. Couple pictures of the Moddus checkstrip, which I feel might cost me this year. Although the heads on right are Moddus and maybe longer they have not really begun to fill yet, whereas the untreated has a headstart on filling. If no further rain I expect that to make a difference. Just picked four random heads from each area, I think the biggest head may be from the untreated but there are a couple of smaller ones in there too.   |
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Post by kenmb on Jul 15, 2021 8:13:57 GMT -6
My barley is certainly different than I would have expected when comparing to wheat. As mentioned, this barley was seeded 4 days after after I finished the wheat seeded into barley stubble. That wheat being slow to get going in the cool ground is all headed out except for the sloughs. Where as this barley is still poking the first head out. Pulled a couple plants from the area I took picture of last week with bush in background, what I called average ground evident by some browned off leaves but still not a bad plant. This barley has a long way to go to be considered fully headed out. I can see beards turning on the wheat already.
Flax is growing again after the rain. This is a plava plant. Pretty typical height as those patio stones are 24" square so plants are about 18" tall. Sorrel a good 4" taller.
Put a hail claim in for peas. I looked in about 20 places on 3 quarters and it is rare that I can pull a random plant and find a pod untouched. Don't know how the bruises will effect the peas underneath. Very little experience with hail on green pods but have seen the underlying seed not develop. 10 to 20% of pods are cracked or broken so those are a right off I beleive. Will see what hail adjuster says.
Plava flax still blooming pretty strongly. Sun up to sundown. Sorrel also blooming but more flowers are lower in the canopy so perhaps not showing the same amount of blue when looking across the field. The dark line in picture is height difference from plava to sorrel.
Difference in maturity. Plava on left, the sorrel ends just to left of where I am standing. There is a empty strip from a plugged run, then 5 rows of sorrel and the plava starts. Sorrel looking pretty good, will be interesting to see how it ends.
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Post by SWMan on Jul 21, 2021 21:37:00 GMT -6
Took a few pics today, amazing what a couple inches of rain will do. Flax, I don't think it is stooling like Kens flax is, perhaps it will yet?  L233P canola going into full bloom now.  Chrome peas, about knee high and done flower. Lots of 7 pea pods but I feel like there is less pods this year, for sure less vine height. I'm a bad guesser on yield so shouldn't even try.  |
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Post by kenmb on Jul 23, 2021 12:25:26 GMT -6
I am thinking that if a plant has all the resources it needs then it won't stool much because all seedlings develop to maturity. And if plant is short on resources it will hold back until those resources are available and then stool to make use. So on poorer land or limited moisture conditions then a guy could rely on a plants natural tendency to adapt, and this means producing more shoots when possible. But I don't see any information on these things and is why I find it curious that these farm publications like "top crop manager" will talk of a relatively high seeding rate as their base rate and then experiment with really high seeding rates, but not have any info about reduced seeding rates in the same trial where their goal is to actually research seeding rates. The few blurbs I do see seem to indicate that reduced rates actually work ok. And that is evident with canola being seeded at lower and lower rates.
Now, if a guy has abundant resources (water, fertilizer, sun) then I do beleive the high seeding rate is likely the way to go. But where the land is variable and moisture too, then I don't think following the "recommended" high seeding rate is what a guy should blindly follow. I can see a combination of events where a seeding rate lower than recommendations can make sense in that if moisture is short but more abundant later on, then the plant will basically self regulate itself better.
In a high seeding rate environment each plant is basically competing for the same resources. And if resources are ever in short supply then the plants eventually use up resources sooner. I saw that with high vs low seeding rates in mustard and barley. High seeding rates had all plants mature faster. Mustard for example bloomed for a shorter time. Didn't see too much yield difference. Now if a guy used a lower rate and then allowed the plants to consume resources at a lower rate they could potentially be in a position to perform better when conditions improved.
Can't say if any or this is valid. But I see things in crops that don't seem to fit what I am told should be an accepted way of doing things these days. Although some old research I find shows this is true, like no measureable yeild change in flax between 10-25lbs/ac. That is my experience but this is research done decades ago with relatively low input farming, I don't do anything considered intensive so perhaps higher yeild could be gained with higher rates.
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Post by SWMan on Jul 23, 2021 22:48:35 GMT -6
Well the Top Crop Manager doesn't get a bunch of full page ads sold by telling anyone to cut back on inputs.
There is lots of evidence from seed growers that low seed rates can yield really well, sometimes they only have small amounts to work with.
I do feel that higher seeding rates can be a benefit for weed control through increased competition, especially in a crop like flax where it is less competitive to begin with.
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Post by kenmb on Sept 25, 2021 19:26:00 GMT -6
Time to update this a bit.
Swman, in regards to thoughts on seeding rates I am wondering if us farmers are taking some things for granted. What is perhaps not accounted for is all the plant breeding being done now vs what some of my beleifs are based on what my dad did, and his dad. I am thinking in regards to the Landmark wheat I grew and Plava flax. I am suspecting these two crops may be examples of the trait to tiller being bred out to a certain degree. If that were the case, then me using a seeding rate for wheat that was accepted practice 30 years ago is different than today. Less tillering should mean a higher seeding rate should be used. Looking at my Plava vs Sorrel flax I am kind of suspecting the Sorrel created more tillers/main stem branches. And if so, the Plava should be done at higher seeding rate. Don't know, just an idea that crossed my mind that I never considered before. Maybe someone already knows the answers.
So flax is done and both Plava and Sorrel ran 20bpa, give or take 100bu on a quarter section. Plava was certified seed at around 21 #/ac, sorrel bin run at about 32 #/ac. Everything else same, sorrel seeded the day after seeding plava. The plava stems seemed to stay greener. By the time I was done on the plava I was running into over ripe sorrel. By overripe what I mean is when straight cutting I find the straw breaks up too easy and seems to overload the chaffer and gives my higher returns and so slower going. Combining with straw a little green seemed to work better.
I don't see myself as a combine setting expert but I remember SWFarmservice on the old forum saying a good base setting for a case axial flow in flax is to use wheat settings. This year was first year doing wheat, and when I went to flax I found that by the time I was done roughing in settings and doing a few hundred bushels I was pretty close to my wheat settings.
Add a couple pictures in next post.
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Post by kenmb on Sept 25, 2021 19:40:31 GMT -6
A few other things that I found interesting
Picture of swathing Plava, and then straight cutting sorrel
I combined most of the flax straight and went around low spots then went back and swathed. The plava can see a round I made with combine straight cutting. The straw is pretty green. I didn't think a guy could combine green flax straw. All I have heard is people say how hard flax is to cut. On the other forum right now the guys are saying their new Macdon fd2 can't cut flax and Don is waiting for a frost. I cut this fine (5-6 mph) with ih4000 swather and 2388 with honeybee header. Cutting was never an issue. HB got a new knife. 4000 running decade old guards and a knife patched up as needed with newer sections.
I first started straight cutting the ripe area of the field and staying far away from green straw low spots but soon enough I found they combined fine. What did stop me was some flax still blooming. While I appreciate the stick-to-it Ness of Plava in keeping blooming, I had enough that it was noticeable so that was the main reason to bring out the swather.
Plava seemed to combine better. Maybe it was the timing. Or the straw. I found that the sorrel was giving me more issues with unthreshed bolls in the ripe areas where as plava seemed to thresh consistently better. Set the combine and drive kind of thing.
Sorrel didn't real do well for me but then it was a tough year. It was more patchy even though overall yield was the same. A guy could argue that on a better year the sorrel may do better, who knows. I have kept some plava seperate so going to grow it again vs sorrel. More so because I think it was better from a combining standpoint. It was very consistent in height also, set the table height and reel height and do the entire field with barely moving header.
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