Jarrod Miller, Extension Educator, Somerset County
In the past week you may have seen the court ruling which releases hobby users from registering their unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). If you just fly a UAV for fun, then you no longer have to register with the FAA, which costs $5 and can be done online. Farmers who fly their fields for fun would be a hobby user, but if used to search for pest, disease or nutrient issues, farmers would be considered a commercial user of UAVs.
Ben Beale, Extension Educator, St. Mary’s County
The recent rains and numerous days of continuous wind has made it difficult to get herbicide applications made when needed. Ideally, we really like to wait until planting to spray, or have good confidence that the herbicide application will occur right after spraying. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, and what we like and what we get are two different things. With most weeds you will be ok, but Palmer and other resistant weeds can be another story. In our trials, residuals from pre-emergent herbicides provided 2-5 weeks of control for Palmer. That allows you to get in with an early post emergence product such as Reflex plus Glyphosate or Flexstar around 21 days after planting. This will help to keep the field clean until the beans canopy. If you take away a couple of those weeks, you can be in real trouble with weeds coming in before canopy closure. Continue reading Making Timely Herbicide Applications to RR Soybeans in Fields with Palmer Amaranth
Melissa Wilson, Nutrient Management Specialist, University of Maryland
Thinking about sidedressing nitrogen on your corn grain or corn silage this spring? With the wet season we’ve had, it might be a good idea. Consider using the Pre-sidedress Soil Nitrate Test (PSNT) to help with your decision. The PSNT should be run when the corn is between 6 and 12 inches tall. If the soil nitrate levels are high enough, you do not need to add additional nitrogen. If the test shows low levels, you should think about sidedressing additional N to avoid potential yield losses. Your UME county Nutrient Management Advisor can run the test if you take the sample. There are some conditions to the test though:
Continue reading Recent Rainfall May Have Removed Your Soil Nitrate!
Nathan Kleczewski, Extension Field Crop Plant Pathologist, University of Delaware
We are through flowering in Delaware and Maryland wheat. Growers should assess wheat for FHB severity approximately 18-24 days after flowering or fungicide application. Check one transect per 1-2 acres of field. At each transect, pick 25 heads without looking at the field. Mark the number of heads with FHB out of the total heads collected (FHB incidence). Fields with high levels of FHB incidence should be harvested with increased fan speeds to remove tombstones and grain stored separately from that harvested from cleaner fields. If possible, harvest fields early and dry to at least 15% moisture to prevent continued growth of the FHB fungus and potential mycotoxin production.
Jarrod Miller, Extension Educator, Somerset County
Scattered across the Eastern Shore this spring were a few acres of golden color covering the landscape. Rather than a field of wildflowers, these may have been fields of the brassica rapeseed. Most readers will be more familiar with the edible rapeseed known as canola, a source of vegetable oil in your supermarket. Canola is more of a marketing name for consumers as it is just a lower erucic acid version of rapeseed oil.
Canola was bred in Canada to lower the content of erucic acid, which is believed to have negative health effects. In fact canola stands for “Canadian Oil, Low Acid”. Continue reading Those Aren’t Fields of Wildflowers
Nidhi Rawat, Small Grains Pathologist, University of Maryland
Wheat crop is flowering or towards the end of flowering in Maryland. With high humidity and moderate temperatures, the risk for Fusarium Head Blight in the region continues to be high (See the attached FHB risk map). The past week with high winds and rain may have made it difficult to spray fungicides for Fusarium head blight. Still there is time of around 4-5 days to spray appropriate products to reduce FHB and associated DON content. The most effective products are Caramba, Prosaro, and Proline. Aerial application at 5 gallons per acre or ground application at 15 gallons per acre is recommended. For ground application, rear and forward facing nozzles should be angled down 30 degrees from horizontal with 300 um droplet size. Continue to monitor current risk assessments on http://www.wheatscab.psu.edu/.
Nathan Kleczewski, Field Crops Pathologist, University of Delaware
Heavy rains coupled with high winds made it difficult for growers in Delaware and Maryland to apply fungicides for Fusarium head blight (FHB) suppression. There has been discussion about waiting until this current weather front passes to make applications. READ THE REST ON NATHAN’S BLOG POST:
Scott A. Minnick, NOAA-National Weather Service, Wakefield, VA
www.weather.gov, scott.minnick@noaa.gov
Warm temperatures and generally near normal precipitation highlighted April across the state of Maryland. In fact, many climate locations recorded the warmest April on record. While April was not particularly wet, near normal precipitation allowed for improving drought conditions following a dry winter and earl Continue reading Maryland May Agriculture Weather Report:
Dave Myers, Extension Educator, Anne Arundel County
Economic thresholds are the level of pest activity where control may prevent economic injury to crop yields. The University of Maryland guide can be downloaded here: IPM Agronomic Crops Guide 2017. It includes alfalfa, corn, soybean and small grain insects. If you have trouble downloading a copy from this blog, please contact your county Extension office.
Dale Morris1, Bob Kratochvil2 and Paul Goeringer2
1Maryland Department of Agriculture and 2University of Maryland Extension
PATENT LAW AND THE PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION ACT (PVPA)
Most varieties of wheat and soybean sold in Maryland are protected by either the U.S. Patent Law or the Plant Variety Protection Act (www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/pvpa). These protections provide intellectual property rights to the developer (i.e. seed company and/or breeder) of the variety. In addition, they either severely limit the age-old practice of “farmer saved seed” or prohibit it entirely, depending upon the type protection secured by the variety’s owner. Violation of either protection may result in financial penalties and costly litigation. The following discusses the implications of Patent Law and PVPA on farmer saved seed. Continue reading Farmer Saved Seed – What is Legal – What is Not