Valatie Research Farm Field Day
The cutting edge of the latest research
Tom
May 2012 / The Crazy Season
The season continues on its crazy path of very warm days. In my last letter we discussed the alfalfa and grasses going out of sync for harvest. Unfortunately, that effect has continued. The normal cutting schedule based on alfalfa height is now skewed. Samples over a wide area show the alfalfa at a much more immature stage than the heat units indicate. The grasses continue to race past maturity. The recommendation to stop corn planting and mow grass in areas to the north of Albany, NY latitude continues.
April, 2012 / Haycrop/Planting Season = Sum of Extremes.
The 2012 season in the Northeast has started out with a bang. From a March that brought 80+F and 23 F a week later; and April that hit 90 and 29 in three days; it has been a rollercoaster. We had less than a 1/3 of an inch of rain for all of March and up to April 21.
Plants started to grow fast and then were frozen off. Growth of all crops slowed to a halt as they ran out of water. The recent rain spurred rapid growth which nearly halted in the cold weather since April 20.
March, 2012 / New research to prevent nitrogen loss from early spring application
New Research to Prevent Nitrogen Losses From Early Spring Applications
With the shortage of forage, as I mentioned in the January newsletter, the earliest crops to refill the silos are cool season grasses or winter forages such as triticale, with nitro-gen applied. It is an economical use of nitrogen and will give the most rapid return on in-vestments. In research and on-farm results, nitrogen TRIPLED the total yearly yields on perennial grasses where it was applied.
February, 2012 / Frost Tillage: use winter to get a jump on spring
Critical Seed Corn
You are not the only one to have been hit by very bad weather this year, the corn seed industry has been hit even harder. Do not think it is business as usual. You will need to get your order in early AND TAKE DELIVERY EARLY. There are a number of farms that may not have their order filled or at least have it filled by something very different. Take delivery as soon as possible. There is little or no fall-back supplies
January 2012 / Crops for emergency forage shortage in 2012
How soon can I grow more forage?
The season of 2011 has drastically reduced the forage supply. The shortage will rebound-impact the forage supplies of next year and the year after. Here are steps you can take to quickly get more forage on the acres you work, starting with the earliest return of forage:
December, 2011 / Short Season Sorghum; new crop old use – old crop new use
We are always looking at new crops and new uses for old crops. The past two years we have been doing both with the same crop. The crop is an 83 day BMR 6 sorghum.
Why BMR Sorghum? The 83 day sorghum can be planted after winter triticale harvest or where planting was delayed by weather. Drilled on narrow rows, it will capture the maximum amount of sunlight faster than any corn plant (early planted corn does not cover the rows until hip high).
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October, 2011 / The profitability of covering the basics
2011 will go down in many farmers’ minds as one of the most frustrating years in their farming history from the standpoint of the beating that nature has thrown at them. Floods, extreme dry, hail, insects, and disease, we have had them all. As I visit farms, the one thing that has struck me is the farmers who are weathering the disasters the best have focused on, and continue to focus on, the basics. Yes, they had a down year, but they will survive.
September, 2011 / Late planted winter forage
What can I plant for this fall harvest?
Is it to late to plant winter triticale for forage quality better than BMR corn?
What can I plant to harvest this fall for emergency forage?
Nothing – it is to late for that other than grazing some of the winter grains and possi-bly ryegrass. What you can do is to apply 50 – 75 lbs/a of nitrogen (40-0-0-4S) on your grass and mostly grass hay fields. With the rain and cool conditions, it is perfect for growing quality grass and will give you the highest amount of forage in the shortest possible time.
Winter Triticale Forage
Winter triticale does double duty as a cover crop while producing high-quality forage (2 to 4 ton/acre dry matter harvested at flag leaf stage). Winter triticale for forage has several benefits: (1) early harvest allows for double cropping with short season corn, teff, soybeans, or sorghum x sudangrass; (2) the ground coverage in the fall and spring protects highly erodable land (HEL) and results in takeup of nutrients that otherwise might be lost to the environment; (3) when harvested at pollination will produce 25 to 30% more straw yield than rye; (4) red clover can be planted when triticale is seeded (if planted before September 5 in New York) or frost seeded; (5) establishment in August and harvest in May allows for manure spreading outside of the regular growing season and under conditions that are more favorable for manure spreading.