Inconveniently Damp

From May 22nd, when we had a widespread 2-2.5" of rainfall, we have had eight measurable precipitation events occurring on average every four days. Crop conditions range from excellent to good as amounts varied significantly between locations. Layer this volatility onto the range of soils and you have a mixed bag. 

Thanks to a long-term emphasis on farm drainage, another 750 acres tiled this Spring, most of our crops are thriving. Very good yields are likely. The downside is staying on schedule with field work has been a challenge. 

Planned herbicide application is complete. Respraying of problem areas in bean fields is pending. Another week of seasonal temps should get crop and weed size to the appropriate height for our final pass.

Now is the ideal time for side dressing nitrogen (N) in corn. After many years of using urea, a dry product broadcast with a spinner post emerge, we have switched to liquid 32% applied with "Y drops."

A "Y drop" is a pair of hoses attached to the outside of a plastic shield, similar to the snout of a corn head, suspended from the sprayer boom. Liquid fertilizer is pumped through the boom and into the Y drop attachment. The twin hoses brush lightly against the corn row, placing fertilizer in a stream beside each plant. With "Y drops", a high clearance sprayer can apply N up to pollination.

This change increased application and fertilizer expense. Liquid N is typically more expensive than dry. Also, the application process is more time consuming and requires specialized equipment. As we only need a 4-5 bushel yield increase to recover these costs, this is a low-risk experiment. There aren't many ideas left on the "Cost Effective Yield Enhancing Practices" list we haven't tried.  

Tracking rainfall across our farms has become a team effort. I started putting up gauges seven years ago when Bert and boys took over Pinicon leadership. It was information that could be useful for planning field operations and forecasting final yields.

Over time we kept adding gauges so that each cluster of farms had a gauge within several miles. Today there are seventeen gauges and five reporters, Bert, Calvin, Keith, Alex and myself. Linda is on the bench, waiting for the inclusion of number eighteen, Rochester, on the '26 Rain Gauge Summary. Her chances are good. 

Recently, I've noticed greater importance being placed on these reports. Whether this is due to the number of people involved in collecting the data, the unpredictability of how much falls at each location, or our historical record which gives an objective comparison, the interest in this information has grown. It has improved our awareness of current conditions and aided decision making.

Not bad for what started out to be a harmless way to keep myself occupied. 

Jim

Mitch applies 32% N with Y drops on Johanns “Mothers”