Boots In The Field Report

In this Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie stresses using this time to put thought into diversifying hybrid line up and strategizing placement of hybrids to take advantage of a field’s strengths and farm around the weaknesses.

This week in the podcast Ken takes a deep dive on what we have learned about tar spot in 2021. He covers why it was so bad in parts of the country this year, what the plot research said about timing of fungicide applications and number of applications, what to be on the lookout for in this coming year. Ken also talks about an app that can help with keeping us up to date on if conditions are right for Tar spot. 

Ken uses this week’s Boots In The Field Report to cover the topic of starter fertilizer and what to consider when looking at cutting costs for next year. Ken walks through evaluating product, placement, timing, and rate to get the most bang for your starter buck.

In this week’s Boots in The Field Report Ken Ferrie breaks down planting conditions for beans in an ideal situation and how that changes when you are trying to plant early beans. The focus, when planting early beans, changes from soil temperatures to soil conditions in order to attempt to get the beans to the unifoliate stage quick enough to pressure the bean to flower before the solstice. Ken also walks through how to adjust the timing window for different maturity groups.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken covers some of the swings seen in the Hybrid Plot hand shelling day and warns about some of the hurdles growers new to applying fall anhydrous need to be aware of. Fall gas does NOT do well in paying the carbon penalty and Ken walks through options to help get over that hurdle.

As a lot of crews cross the harvest finish line, eyes turn towards preparation for next spring. Ken walks through considerations for growers wanting to plant early beans in 2022. As the weather locally led to a lot of wet harvesting and wheel tracks/ruts, Ken recommends trying to fix those fields this fall to make sure it doesn’t hold you back from planting early next spring. If that is not an option than rotating those to your “normal” planted bean fields and switching fields without seedbed issues to be the early planted fields. He also recommends avoiding the group 14 PPOs in early planted bean fields, staying on top of winter burn down, and having discussions with retailers and suppliers so everyone has the same game plan for being ready to plant early beans.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken answers a question that came in during Session 1 of Beyond the Basics. While soil tests can not detect if a disease is present in the field, it can give indicators to how the field will handle disease pressure. Healthy plants handle stress better than unhealthy plants and fields with adequate fertility help to create healthy plants. If a field has low potash values, acid soils, or runs out of nitrogen at grain fill, it is more susceptible to greater loss due to disease pressure. We are asking for growers to call in with the hybrids that did and did not handle tar spot well and also asking for volunteers that can help with the hand harvest project on Tuesday, December 14th. 

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie warns about making sure the anhydrous is sealing as it is too expensive to let gas off. He reports that some strip-till growers are struggling to get good strips in current weather conditions and advises that they might have to move to a plan B. Ken encourages keeping the seedbed sacred and he reminds growers that seedbed preparations for next year’s crop start this fall. He also extends a heartfelt thank you to all Veterans and their families for their service and sacrifice.

As growers are finally able to get back into fields locally, Ken does this week’s Boots In The Field Report from the tractor cab. Growers are doing everything they can to drag Harvest 21 across the finish line. Including cleaning out bins to dry beans, adjusting harvest order to get bean fields before the pods split open, changing heads throughout the day as to not lose an hour of harvest, and keeping their eye on their harvest loss. 

After the 2-5 inches of rain Ken recommends using the floatation of your harvest equipment wisely to reduce compaction and reminds growers to keep records of the fields that are getting rutted up to make a plan to fix after harvest. In this week’s Boots In The Field Report he also advises that fields with bean pods opening move up the harvest list and shares the article https://fieldcropnews.com/2018/12/how-to-dry-soybeans-in-a-bin/ as a resource to help dry beans. 

In this Boots in The Field Report Ken Ferrie covers multiple adjustments growers can make to their combine settings to reduce the record amount of harvest loss happening this year. He also advises growers to calculate in bushels what it cost to apply for removal of phosphorus and potash. The grain leaving the field is worth more and the cost to replace the nutrients leaving the field cost more. Looking at it in bushels from last year to this year can help put the cost in perspective and keep growers from putting on the brakes too soon.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie talks with Matt Duesterhaus, a Crop-Tech Consulting regional agronomist, in Quincy, IL to see how the harvest is going. Matt points out that planting date/ear count, nitrogen management, and disease management are areas that are standing out as yields roll in. He explains that yields in general are looking good for both corn and beans in his area and he will be analyzing plot data to figure out if the yield increases are enough to cover the cost of application/implementation and create a positive ROI. Ken and Matt also touch on how switching to all fall anhydrous due to current prices comes with some risks, especially for growers who don’t usually apply anhydrous.

In this Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie covers calls coming in from OH, WI, and IA about yields, moisture, and how much is left to harvest. Much of the Midwest is coming out fairly low in percent of moisture, which could help reduce some pinch points this fall. Ken also shares some plot results that came out this week, with higher populations showing an advantage in some of the disease riddled areas. He advises that in learning and remembering the past we help improve the future, but with all the pocket environments and special circumstances of this year, he warns about throwing out everything you know to switch to something you don’t, based on this one year of data.

Ken gives a harvest report as numbers continue to roll in showing some significant yield increases to fungicide in the heavy disease areas. Looking at the number of days with precipitation in the June through August time frame could help explain why we saw such heavy disease pressure show up earlier this year than it has in the past. Ken also explains what the Crop-Tech hybrid labels of G-L1-L2-D mean. 

Ken gives a harvest report of yields and moistures coming in from across the state in this week’s Boots In The Field Report. He explains why the outside rows of a field could be greener and higher moisture than the rest of the field, recaps the first fix/flexed plot that has come out, and prompts farmers to continue to send in which hybrids are and are NOT withstanding the disease pressure well. Ken reminds growers how valuable the yield maps from this season will be and encourages them to calibrate their yield monitors and make sure they are checking and adjusting for harvest loss on a per field/per hybrid basis. He also advises growers to be on the lookout for beans that are early maturing and/or early planted to make sure they don’t shell out on the ground while cleaning up corn acres.

On this week's #BIFR Ken Ferrie says the wheels have come off the bus on fields with Tar Spot. The crop is falling apart and quickly dying before being able to pack on the starch. He says tar spot seems to be varying by hybrid and a Harvest Plan is a MUST! 

Ken gives a crop recap from his travels through Iowa and reports on finding: white mold, Goss’s wilt, and heavy army worm pressure in this week’s Boots In The Field Report. He also warns growers that drying down in the field may not be an option for fields that fail to reach black layer due to the high disease pressure. He advises that having a harvest plan and staying on top of it will be more important than ever this fall.

Ken reports in this Boots In The Field Report about seeing anthracnose top kill, edge of field scalding, and SDS in beans. His recent trip to Ohio and Indiana indicates, while disease is high in a lot of areas, not all areas are fighting tar spot as bad as Central IL. Ken reminds growers that if fields were in the reproduction stages and hit with high stress, it will speed up the plant and shorten grain fill. 

Ken recaps how the heat and water over the last couple of weeks have affected crops in central IL in this Boots In The Field Report. He informs of incoming scouting reports and advises which pests and diseases might still have value in going after and what ones may not.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie covers: Field day recap, increase in beetle pressure, why fields are turning yellow at pollination, delays in getting air planes and what are other spraying options, how the haze/smoke from last week has affected the crops and what he is seeing for pollination issues, early season wind damage, and truncated/beer can ears.