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Features
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Planting
corn
[APRIL
8, 2002] One
of the sure signs of spring is when the corn planters come out of
the shed and begin the annual ritual of planting the fields. While
it may look like farmers just drive back and forth in the fields,
there is a lot of planning and skill involved in this farming
operation.
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Last
year the typical farmer began choosing which hybrids he would plant this
year. He used yield data from plots, company information and his own
experience. He also had to make note of certain insect and disease problems
in various fields to select hybrids that were resistant, or more tolerant,
to those conditions. The farmer also had to select varying maturities of
corn so that harvest would be spread out over a period of time to avoid
losses in the field.
The
planting date is critical for success. University research shows that the
optimum time to plant corn in our area is the last week of April. After that
date, there is about a 2 percent yield loss for every five days of delay.
There is also a slight yield loss for planting early, but it is usually less
than the late planting penalty. The other "wild card" is that on
average there are only 3.1 days available for field work between April 21
and April 30. There are only 4.3 days available on average for the May 1-10
period. This points out the need for timely operations for the farmer.
Another
criteria for planting is the soil temperature. Corn germinates at about 50
degrees soil temperature (at the earliest). Right now we are about eight
degrees under that. Leaving seed in the ground longer than it needs to be
can cause insect and disease problems.
Corn
should also be planted between 1.5 and 2 inches deep early in the season.
Later on the corn usually has to be planted deeper to reach moisture. This
means the farmer has to adjust the planter to plant corn into moisture in
about that depth range. The farmer’s goal is to have all the corn come up
at the same time so that earlier plants don’t compete with later ones.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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The
number of plants per acre is very important. With the current
varieties, the farmer will get the most yield from about 30,000 to
32,500 plants per acre. He has to plant a little more than that to
allow for seed loss to insects, diseases, birds and mice. Our farmer
will lose 2 to 3 percent of his yield for every 2,500 seeds that don’t
grow.
The
last discussion item for today is row width. You can see the rows of
corn after the seed comes up. The most common row width is 30 inches
now. It used to be 40 inches, then 38, then 36, and now it is 30.
The trend is to get narrower. The wide rows we used to use were
based not on yield, but rather on being wide enough to get the
horses the farmer used to use down those rows. Now we are worried
about yields, and the 30-inch rows allow for more space between
kernels in a row.
Add
to this the fact that we haven’t even discussed the fertilizer,
herbicides, insecticides and other management factors, and you can
see that planting corn is definitely more that driving the tractor
with the corn planter trailing behind. And we can’t forget Mother
Nature. She ultimately has control regardless of what our farmer
does.
[John
Fulton, Logan County Unit,
University of Illinois Extension]
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Spring
is here and it’s time
to plant; hold that thought
[MARCH
30, 2002] Now
that Illinois has had a few days with freezing rain and snow,
gardeners and farmers alike are eager to begin their spring
planting, but they still need to wait a bit longer and keep frost
dates in mind.
View
spring frost map for Illinois
[The
map is an Adobe Acrobat file. Click
here if you need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader.]
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"The
last spring frost usually occurs between April 7 (southern Illinois) and
April 28 (northern Illinois), and April 14 to 21 (central Illinois), based
on 1971-2000 averages," says Jim Angel, state climatologist with the Illinois
State Water Survey.
"The
actual frost date varies quite a bit from year to year," says Angel. He
suggests adding two weeks to the average frost date for your area before
planting tender plants, to protect them against the possibility of a late
season frost. "By doing so, the odds are only 1 in 10 that frost will
occur later in spring," continues Angel.
Although
32 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature traditionally used to identify
frost, visible frost can be seen on the ground and on objects at slightly
warmer temperatures on calm, clear nights that allow cold, dense air to
collect near the ground. Under these conditions, the temperature near the
ground actually can be a few degrees cooler than at the 5-foot height of the
official National Weather Service thermometer.
Open,
grassy areas usually experience frost first, while areas under trees are
more protected because the trees help prevent the heat from escaping.
Covering tender plants when a frost is expected can provide this same type
of protection. Plants near heated buildings sometimes are spared too. An
abundance of warm buildings and trees in town means that urban areas tend to
have frost less often than rural areas.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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According
to Angel, average high temperatures in spring (March-May) range from
the upper 50s (north), to the low 60s (central), to the upper 60s
(south), while the average low temperatures range from the upper 30s
(north), to the lower 40s (central), to the upper 40s (south).
Data
from the Water Survey WARM Network also indicate that soil moisture
across the state is near to above average for this time of year.
"Don’t
let the mild winter we’ve had fool you into thinking we’ll have
a warm spring," cautions Angel. "Historical data indicate
that warm springs do not follow warm winters. Although there is a
tenuous relationship between warm Aprils and earlier dates at which
the last spring frost occurs, it only takes a day or two of
unseasonably cold weather to produce a late spring frost," he
said.
[Illinois
State Water Survey, a division of
the Illinois Department of Natural Resources]
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Ready,
set, grow!
[MARCH
26, 2002] The
calendar says that spring is here, even though the ice and snow are
with us. One thing about spring, the ice and snow just don’t last
very long. This time of year can be a very busy one for getting
things in shape for a great growing season.
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Lawn
care is one thing that should be on everyone’s mind. It’s hard to get
cranked up much about it when there is snow, but timing in the spring is
critical for some operations.
Let’s start with crabgrass control.
Crabgrass is an annual grass, which means it comes up from seed every year.
One of the best ways to control annual weeds is to use a seed germination
inhibitor that works on that germinating seed. The only problem is timing.
These herbicides must be put on before you see the weed (in this case, the
crabgrass).
Many
of the germination inhibitors are combined with fertilizer. They should be
applied about April 1 in our area, but the timing can vary a couple of
weeks. The crabgrass seed germinates on the basis of soil temperature, but
one of the good indicators is forsythia in bloom. If you don’t have your
crabgrass preventer on by the time you see forsythia blooms, best get it on
quickly. Another thing to keep in mind is that the same product that
prevents crabgrass from germinating will do the same thing to other seeds.
This means that you can’t sow new grass seed and use a crabgrass treatment
the same time of year. If you need seeding done, fall is actually the best.
Grass
may be sown either March 15 to April 1 or Aug. 15 to Sept. 10. Spring
seedings don’t usually have the success that the fall ones do, because hot
weather tends to hit before lawns become well established. Seeding rates
should be about four pounds of seed per 1,000 square feet for bare dirt, and
half that rate for over-seeding thin areas. We recommend using a blend of
grasses, such as Kentucky bluegrass, a fine fescue and perennial ryegrass.
Some people leave out the perennial ryegrass, but it does provide some
advantages.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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The
seeding times are also good times to use a plug aerator or use a
power dethatcher. These operations are very hard on grass, and doing
them when the grass recovers quickly goes a long way to keeping your
lawn healthy. Both of these operations are usually done to help
remove thatch layers. This thatch should be no more than one-half
inch in depth, or you’ll tend to have disease problems come in.
Fertilizer
and broadleaf weed controls are best applied in May when they work
better. This early in the season, lawn weeds aren’t actively
growing, and turf isn’t growing actively enough to make good use
of nitrogen fertilizer.
Another
item we have gotten several calls on is dealing with grubs and moles. The two are
often related. Moles eat grubs and earthworms for food. This really
isn’t a good time to try to control grubs since they are large in
size and won’t be around too much longer. They will pupate this
spring and come back out as June bugs, Japanese beetles or green
June bugs to start the process all over again. The best control time
is from August through September. Mole control is best accomplished
by doing away with their food source; then they go elsewhere. With
this not being a good time for grub control, you are reduced to
trapping for moles.
Hopefully
these spring lawn tips will get you started on the right track for
the year. If you have further questions, feel free to contact the office at 732-8289.
[John
Fulton, Logan County Unit,
University of Illinois Extension]
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Honors
& Awards
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Kent
Leesman wins FFA district speaking contest
[APRIL
10, 2002] At
the recent public speaking contest for District III FFA, Kent
Leesman from Hartsburg-Emden High School was chosen number one out of 10 participants in the
extemporaneous division. The topic that Kent chose was "What
New Technologies in Agriculture Can Help Reduce Pollution?"
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He
now advances to the state semifinals, hosted by Illinois State
University on May 4. That day, three FFA members will be selected to
compete in the state finals, which will be during the state FFA
convention in June.
[Kent Leesman, the District III FFA winner in
extemporaneous public speaking, with Robin Neihaus, national FFA
secretary]
[Hartem
FFA news release]
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Kent
Leesman state FFA winner
[APRIL
1, 2002] Three
Hartsburg-Emden FFA members participated in the state FFA
proficiency interviews on March 23 at the University of Illinois.
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Kent
Leesman was named the state winner in grain
production-entrepreneurship. Daniel Eeten and Natalie Coers
placed second in diversified crop production-placement and
diversified horticulture. All three were judged on the quality
of their record books and a personal interview. Kent now
advances to regional competition on the national level.
Kent
was also recently informed that he was named one of the top 10 essay
winners in the USDA Risk Management Essay Contest. By being in
the top 10, Kent earned an all-expense-paid trip to Washington,
D.C., later in April.
[Hartem
FFA news release]
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Hartem FFA
members at the State FFA Proficiency Awards Day with National FFA
Secretary Robin Neihaus. Left to right: Kent Leesman, Robin
Neihaus, Daniel Eeten and Natalie Coers.
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Hartem
FFA wins ag sales contest
[MARCH
18, 2002] The
Hartsburg-Emden FFA agriculture sales team placed first in a recent
agriculture sales contest.
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Individuals
placing first were Natalie Coers for newspaper advertisement, Krista
Ubbenga for product display, and Kent Leesman in customer relations.
Placing
second were Matthew Wrage in sales presentation and Kyle Hoerbert in
telephone skills.
Kent
and Natalie also tied for the highest score on the written test.
As
a team, Hartem was first in market analysis.
[Hartsburg-Emden
FFA report]
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[Hartem ag sales team: Matt
Wrage, Natalie Coers, Kent Leesman, Krista Ubbenga and Kyle Hoerbert]
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Ag
Announcements
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New
beef organization formed
[APRIL
8, 2002] Beef
producers from the Logan, Mason and Tazewell County areas have
recently formed the Heartland Beef Alliance. The object of this
new group will be to share ideas on beef
production, highlight educational benefits of beef to the
consumer, tour beef production facilities, learn from guest
speakers and enjoy socializing among area producers. Any beef
producer, whether owner of one or many beef animals, is encouraged
to join.
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For
more information contact the following officers: Jason Miller,
president, (309) 247-3231; Troy Gehrke, vice-president, (309)
244-7826; Betsy Pech, secretary, (217) 732-4384; or Rick McKown,
treasurer, (217) 648-2712.
The
next meeting will be June 3, 7:30 p.m., at the Greenhaven
Animal Clinic in San Jose.
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