Talking about corn...

In a previous post I talked about planting a corn plot to compare different populations of a variety of corn.  This picture shows the as planted map generated from the data gathered by the planter as we planted across the field.  You can pick out the population trial in the middle of the field.  We embedded these five different populations in the prescription for the field.  Each of the five populations is replicated three times to make sure we don't have a flawed experiment.  The darker green represents the highest population and the red represents the lowest population in the test.  Hopefully, this fall when harvest is complete, we will be able to draw a conclusion as to which population yields the most for this variety in this particular soil type. 

Moisture and sunshine make the corn plants grow rapidly.  Even after 2 heavy rain events since planting this crop residue is holding the soil in place and moisture in the ground for the young corn plants.  We will begin scouting the fields soon to check our stand counts and check for weed or disease pressure.

The Robertson County Chamber of Commerce Youth Leadership Class, from the Robertson Education Initiative, stopped by the farm on April 15th.  These bright young people were energetic and had plenty of questions about farming and food production.  We had a great discussion about the environment and how farmers are working hard to be stewards of the land and water.  The students were amazed to learn how the Geo-political situation in Ukraine affected farmers in Robertson County.  The Chamber of Commerce and the Robertson Education Initiative are to be commended for exposing young people in the community to the different industries across the county and the role they play in the local economy through jobs and output.  We had a brief soil science class and discussed the health of the soil while digging sprouted corn seeds and worms out of the soil.  With most groups the highlight is always the green paint in the shed! 

We had the opportunity to host the Robertson County Chamber of Commerce Leadership Group to the farm on April 9th.  We had a nice visit with local business and community leaders.  Robertson County is still very rural and agriculture plays a vital role in the economy.  However, many people living in our county are 2-3 generations removed from the farm and really have no idea why we do the things we do on our farms in the county.  This group was a pleasure to visit with and had many great questions about farming, technology and conservation practices on our farm.  We covered topics from preparing equipment, planting and harvesting crops, GPS technology, data collection and analysis, inputs, labor issues, agronomic crop practices, and producing commodities in an international market place.

Discussing the game plan while spraying wheat.  The water truck uses a 3" pump and hose to fill the sprayer.  It only takes a few minutes to pump 800 gallons of water or fertilizer into the sprayer.  This makes the sprayer more efficient by increasing the amount of time running in the field by decreasing the amount of time it sits waiting to be filled.  The sprayer tips (pink things on the sprayer boom) are Greenleaf Technologies - Drift Reducing Nozzles.  These nozzles create coarse (big) water droplets that keep the wind from blowing them away from the target crop in our fields.  They operate under lower pressure than older nozzles and still maintain the pattern required for complete coverage of the crop.  We have made a herbicide application to kill weeds like onions and broad leaf weeds tank mixed with an insecticide to kill harmful bugs that may feed on the wheat crop such as aphids and army worms.  The insecticides we use on our farm today are much less toxic than those used years ago.  The insecticides we use on most crops is derived naturally from plants.  These chemistries are much safer for both people handling the chemicals and our environment.  These chemicals have less tendency for persistence in the soil and plants. 

The sun has set on corn planting for 2014.

 

  Corn planting wrapped up Saturday evening just before we started getting rain on Sunday.  We started on the second day of April and finished on the 26th.  The wet and cool weather made it take a little longer than we would have liked, but we pressed on and got through it. 

This picture shows how the planter works the ground in a narrow band for the seed to be placed approximately 2" deep in the soil.  Notice how the residue around the row is not disturbed.  This residue helps keep the soil from washing away when it rains and holds moisture in the ground.  The seed is coated with an insecticide to keep worms and slugs from eating the seed before it has a chance to germinate.  In the past we would have had to make an insecticide soil application to kill these would be pests to keep this from happening.  This technology allows us to keep the worms and microbes in the soil.  The pests simply move on to something that tastes better to them instead of our corn seeds.  This is one technology that allows us to use fewer pesticides to produce our crops.  A little insecticide on the seed itself is much better for the soil ecosystem than making a broad spectrum application to the whole surface of the soil.  If we made a soil incorporated application before a heavy rain any soil that eroded away to surface water or wells would have carried the insecticide with it.  This method prevents this from happening. 

When the ground did get dry enough to plant we ran the planter 24 hours a day to maximize the use of our planter.  GPS guided auto-steering makes this task much easier.  Technology on the planter allows us to fine tune our settings for the best stand of corn plants we can get.

A Simpson County KY, Red River Sunrise.

Cover Crop Conclusion - Keep it green and Keep the soil!

We participated in the USDA cover crop cost share program through EQIP this last fall.  In an earlier post I talked about the airplane flying to sow the cover crop into the standing soybean crop before the leaves dropped as the soybeans matured before harvest.  The cold winter kept the cover crop from getting tall but it still did it's job.

We broadcasted annual rye, clover and tillage radishes last September into the standing soybean crop.  the cover crop germinated well.  The unusually cool temperatures in October and November kept the radishes from growing and killed them around Thanksgiving.  The rye and clover held on through the very cold winter though.  Although we would have like to have seen more growth the cover still did it's job.  The fields we sowed cover on did not develop washes in drains during heavy rain events.  We had one 3 inch rain in February while the ground was frozen that washed ditches in some of our fields without cover.  I was very pleased with how well the cover kept the ground from eroding on the slopes in the fields.

The root mass in this picture shows why the cover helped to hold the soil down during the heavy rain events.  The soil is bound with these roots and makes it harder to move away with the rain water.

The soil is alive with earth worms.  These little critters eat up left over nutrients in the soil and recycle them for the next crop to use this growing season.  Worms create pores in the soil profile that will increase the water holding capacity of the soil.  This decreases runoff during rain events and stores more water for the corn crop to utilize during the hot summer months that can tend to be dry and hurt the yield potential.  I am anxious to see if there is any yield difference where we had cover and where we did not.  We left a strip out in one field so we could look at any differences in yield from the cover crops. 

Cover Crops scavenge nutrients that were left over from last year's soybean crop and store it up for this year's corn crop.  When we kill the cover it will break down as "green manure" returning the nutrients they stored up back into the ground in a form that is readily available for this year's corn crop to consume.  Secondly, the cover creates more organic matter in the soil profile.  Water holding capacity increases as organic matter increases in the soil.  This organic matter causes the ground  to be more loose and tilthy in the spring.  This will help our corn crop as it sprouts and emerges from the ground.  During the summer months soil tends to get hard and hot the organic matter will have a cooling effect on the root zone layer of the soil.  This will be a welcome effect for the corn crop this summer.  Lastly, and most importantly all the residue on top of the soil helps hold the soil down to prevent erosion from rain and wind.

When the temperature rises so does the work load!

Spring has finally sprung for Jepson Family Farm!  We have been busy getting field work done.  We have been applying Anhydrous Ammonia (Nitrogen) fertilizer to our corn fields for the last few weeks.  We only have a couple more days until this chore is completed.  We use field specific yield data from previous corn crops to determine what rates of nitrogen to apply as the applicator moves across the field.  We put more fertilizer in the areas that have more yield potential and fewer pounds in areas that have less yield potential.  This saves us money from over applying fertilizer and helps there to be less nitrogen fertilizer lost due to leaching.

Our anhydrous applicator is equipped with swath control.  The applicator is divided into three sections.  Each section has a gauge on the front.  As we drive into point rows or get to the end of a field the rate controller cuts each section off so we don't double up fertilizer in those areas.  Anhydrous is knifed into the ground about 6 inches below the surface.  We like to apply the fertilizer into the ground so we don't lose as much if we get a rain right after application.  If you apply other sources directly to the top of the ground rain can wash it away. 

Our spring construction project is a new tobacco barn.  Jackson Excavating has prepared the pad for the barn and we expect to start construction next month.

Spring planting season is an exciting time for a farmer.  The warmer weather brings us hope for new life as we plant our crops in anticipation of a harvest in the fall.  We have been working all winter preparing equipment, researching seed traits and planning what varieties of each crop will go in each field.  We have analyzed soil samples and created fertilizer and lime prescriptions for each area of every field.  It's kind of like watching film and developing a game plan for a ballgame.  It feels good to open a bag of seed and pour it in the planter and put the seed in the ground with great care and watch it emerge and grow into a harvest.

Modern planting equipment is extremely high tech.  We are able to fine tune our planter settings to optimize our final stand of corn plants and hopefully yield in our fields.  Farming is becoming more data driven every season.  We are able to collect a myriad of data from our field operations and use this information to make better informed decisions for our business and the environment. 

Jake Mitchell is pictured pouring in seed for a population field trial study we are doing with Pioneer Seed Company.
On farm trials are the best way to find out how new products perform on our farm.  In this study we are studying the effects of population on yield.  The populations in the trial range from 24,000 plants per acre to 40,000 plants per acre.  It will be interesting to see the results from our test this fall.