Farmers deal with grain moisture
By
John Grimes-
Damp weather earlier last week slowed harvest progress but farmers returned to the fields later in the week. While weather always impacts harvest progress, this year farmers have been faced with some unusual challenges that have slowed harvest.
First, grain moisture levels from an ideal growing season delayed harvest. Next, these higher moisture levels required more facilities to dry-down the grain compared to normal. Ultimately, these factors have led to a few situations where farmers actually didn’t have a place to go with the grain once they got back into the fields because of tight storage situations.
Fall herbicide treatments
There is time yet this fall to apply postemergence herbicides to wheat for control of winter annual weeds and dandelion. While winter annual weeds can be controlled with an early spring herbicide application, our research over the past nine years or so in various crops indicates that herbicides are most consistently effective on winter annuals and dandelion when applied in fall. For most of the herbicides with activity on winter annual grasses, labels specify that control is maximized through application in fall. A dense population of winter annuals may have already suppressed wheat growth by the time a spring treatment can be applied, especially if the spring application is delayed into April.
Applying herbicide and nitrogen fertilizer separately reduces the risk of injury, compared with mixtures of these applied in spring, especially when wheat is under stress from cold, wet weather in March or early April.
Many wheat herbicides can be applied in the fall, although not every herbicide label provides this information. Some labels instead indicate the minimum wheat stage before an herbicide can be applied, and our assumption has been that application in fall is allowed unless otherwise specified on the label. Wheat herbicide descriptions in the Weed Control Guide for Ohio and Indiana (http://agcrops.osu.edu/weeds/documents/Bulletin789.pdf) include this information also. In addition to tribenuron (Express, Nuance) and thifensulfuron + tribenuron premix products (Harmony Extra, Nimble, TNT Broadleaf), several newer wheat herbicides have activity on a fairly broad spectrum of winter annual broadleaf weeds. These herbicides include Huskie, Olympus, and Olympus Flex. When applied in fall, Olympus controls cheat and downy brome also, and Olympus Flex controls these grasses along with annual bluegrass and ryegrass. Among all of these herbicides, only Huskie controls ALS-resistant marestail, although dicamba (2 to 4 oz/A) can be added to the others to improve control of this and other broadleaf weeds. While we do not have as much research data on control of dandelion as we would like, our research to date indicates the most effective treatments include combinations of dicamba with tribenuron or thifensulfuron + tribenuron. Results from one study also showed Olympus Flex to have similar activity to these treatments.
We do not recommend application of 2,4-D to wheat in the fall, based on reduced yield that occurred in several studies we conducted.
Most 2,4-D labels specify that it should be applied in spring after the wheat is tillering. The label for Curtail, a premix of clopyralid and 2,4-D, specifies application in spring after 4 leaves have unfolded on the main stem. The labels for several dicamba + 2,4-D premix products (WeedMaster, Brash, etc) allow application in the fall after wheat begins to tiller. However, these labels also specify that the user assumes all liability for crop injury when these products are applied in the fall.
46th annual schools for
tax practitioners announced
Tax practitioners will have an opportunity to attend one of ten Income Tax Workshops offered in November and December according to Dr. Warren Lee, Director of the OSU Income Tax Schools, The Ohio State University. The OSU Income Tax Schools offer up to 16 hours of continuing education credit for accountants, enrolled agents and attorneys.
These workshops are intended for persons with income tax experience who prepare and file tax returns for individuals, farms and small businesses. Highly qualified instructors will focus on changes and problem areas related to preparation of federal and state returns and will explain and interpret tax regulations and recent changes in tax law. Participants will receive copies of the 2009 National Income Tax Workbook (including a searchable CD containing the 2007-2009 Workbooks).
The workshop locations and dates are: Ashland, Dec. 1-2; Chillicothe, Dec. 3-4; Lima, Dec. 8-9; and Zanesville, Dec. 10-11. Information is available at: http://incometaxschools.osu.edu.
For information, contact Warren Lee, 614-292-6308 or lee.69@osu.edu.
The tax schools are sponsored by Ohio State University Extension in cooperation with the Internal Revenue Service, the Ohio Department of Taxation and the Land Grant University Tax Education Foundation.
John Grimes is the Ohio State University Extension Educator for Agriculture and Natural Resources in Highland County.[[In-content Ad]]
First, grain moisture levels from an ideal growing season delayed harvest. Next, these higher moisture levels required more facilities to dry-down the grain compared to normal. Ultimately, these factors have led to a few situations where farmers actually didn’t have a place to go with the grain once they got back into the fields because of tight storage situations.
Fall herbicide treatments
There is time yet this fall to apply postemergence herbicides to wheat for control of winter annual weeds and dandelion. While winter annual weeds can be controlled with an early spring herbicide application, our research over the past nine years or so in various crops indicates that herbicides are most consistently effective on winter annuals and dandelion when applied in fall. For most of the herbicides with activity on winter annual grasses, labels specify that control is maximized through application in fall. A dense population of winter annuals may have already suppressed wheat growth by the time a spring treatment can be applied, especially if the spring application is delayed into April.
Applying herbicide and nitrogen fertilizer separately reduces the risk of injury, compared with mixtures of these applied in spring, especially when wheat is under stress from cold, wet weather in March or early April.
Many wheat herbicides can be applied in the fall, although not every herbicide label provides this information. Some labels instead indicate the minimum wheat stage before an herbicide can be applied, and our assumption has been that application in fall is allowed unless otherwise specified on the label. Wheat herbicide descriptions in the Weed Control Guide for Ohio and Indiana (http://agcrops.osu.edu/weeds/documents/Bulletin789.pdf) include this information also. In addition to tribenuron (Express, Nuance) and thifensulfuron + tribenuron premix products (Harmony Extra, Nimble, TNT Broadleaf), several newer wheat herbicides have activity on a fairly broad spectrum of winter annual broadleaf weeds. These herbicides include Huskie, Olympus, and Olympus Flex. When applied in fall, Olympus controls cheat and downy brome also, and Olympus Flex controls these grasses along with annual bluegrass and ryegrass. Among all of these herbicides, only Huskie controls ALS-resistant marestail, although dicamba (2 to 4 oz/A) can be added to the others to improve control of this and other broadleaf weeds. While we do not have as much research data on control of dandelion as we would like, our research to date indicates the most effective treatments include combinations of dicamba with tribenuron or thifensulfuron + tribenuron. Results from one study also showed Olympus Flex to have similar activity to these treatments.
We do not recommend application of 2,4-D to wheat in the fall, based on reduced yield that occurred in several studies we conducted.
Most 2,4-D labels specify that it should be applied in spring after the wheat is tillering. The label for Curtail, a premix of clopyralid and 2,4-D, specifies application in spring after 4 leaves have unfolded on the main stem. The labels for several dicamba + 2,4-D premix products (WeedMaster, Brash, etc) allow application in the fall after wheat begins to tiller. However, these labels also specify that the user assumes all liability for crop injury when these products are applied in the fall.
46th annual schools for
tax practitioners announced
Tax practitioners will have an opportunity to attend one of ten Income Tax Workshops offered in November and December according to Dr. Warren Lee, Director of the OSU Income Tax Schools, The Ohio State University. The OSU Income Tax Schools offer up to 16 hours of continuing education credit for accountants, enrolled agents and attorneys.
These workshops are intended for persons with income tax experience who prepare and file tax returns for individuals, farms and small businesses. Highly qualified instructors will focus on changes and problem areas related to preparation of federal and state returns and will explain and interpret tax regulations and recent changes in tax law. Participants will receive copies of the 2009 National Income Tax Workbook (including a searchable CD containing the 2007-2009 Workbooks).
The workshop locations and dates are: Ashland, Dec. 1-2; Chillicothe, Dec. 3-4; Lima, Dec. 8-9; and Zanesville, Dec. 10-11. Information is available at: http://incometaxschools.osu.edu.
For information, contact Warren Lee, 614-292-6308 or lee.69@osu.edu.
The tax schools are sponsored by Ohio State University Extension in cooperation with the Internal Revenue Service, the Ohio Department of Taxation and the Land Grant University Tax Education Foundation.
John Grimes is the Ohio State University Extension Educator for Agriculture and Natural Resources in Highland County.[[In-content Ad]]