Weeds AR Wild Series, S2 Ep4. 2022 Corn Recommendations

Weeds AR Wild Series, S2 Ep4. On this episode, Dr. Tom Barber and Dr. Jason Kelley discuss early season planting decisions and weed management options in corn.

Transcript

[Music]:  Arkansas Row Crops Radio providing up to date information and timely recommendations on row crop production in Arkansas.

Tom Barber: Hello and welcome to the Weeds AR Wild podcast series as part of Arkansas Row Crops Radio. This is Tom Barber, Extension weed scientist with the University of Arkansas System, Division of Agriculture. If you're new to downloading our podcast series, the Weeds AR Wild podcast is produced weekly during the growing season. So, from about March through September or October and myself as well as my fellow Arkansas weed scientists, Dr. Tommy Butts and Dr. Jason Noseworthy, generally share time. So, about a third of the time I'll do it, and we'll share the rest of the time covering timely topics for weed control and row crop production in the state of Arkansas. Today, I'm very fortunate to have Dr. Jason Kelley with me. Jason is our Extension corn and small grain specialist with a U of a Division of Ag. So welcome back to the Weeds AR Wild podcast, Jason.

Jason Kelley: Well, thank you very much, Tom. Pleasure to be on here today with you.

Tom:  Yeah. Glad to have you. And for this episode, Jason and I are going to discuss best management practices for corn production in Arkansas and some key recommendations to consider before you put that first corn seed in the ground this spring. And Jason, I know there are some that are out there and ready, and some have already got a little early start on us this year.

Jason: That's right. I mean, you know, last week it seemed almost like summertime. I mean, this weekend. And so now everybody's got their coats on and back to wintertime. But, yeah, you know, we've got some corn planted in the state, probably a little more than what I thought. I know we had the last system that came through, had some ice and rain and all that. But, you know, we had some fields dry out a little quicker than I thought. And last week, we had several producers I would say several, but a handful of producers, that started planting corn. Typically, you know, up to about I-40 and South. And so, you know, that early planting, like everything, Tom, I mean, some years early planting the way to go, and some years is not. There's a little more risk with that early planting. And, you know, this weather we got coming in this weekend, you know, that little bit of corn we got planted, it's really going to pull down those soil temperatures. And so, corn, now, given this forecast, it may take two, two and a half weeks to come out of the ground, I guess.

Jason:
So, you know, that's the way it always goes, right? It's always hurry up, and you never know what the weather's going to do down the road. So, you know, that early planting, I know, a last year some of our corn growers, they really wanted to plant early because they were looking at some July contracts. And that's always an incentive for some of our growers, especially down south - where some years they can get corn harvested at the end of July or first part of August,  and tap into that early corn market.

Tom: Well, I imagine what if it does get down into the twenties this weekend, we're going to be happy that corn is probably still in the ground and not up out of the ground. [laughter]

Jason: Yeah, exactly.

Tom: What was that, 20…? Was that 2007?

Jason: Yeah. 2007. That, was the big year, you know, that was a year that, if you go back and look at the historical weather records, we were off the charts. Warm in March. And so we had, I mean, gosh, I remember that year. Basically, everybody was almost done planting corn by the end of March. And, the first week in April, that cold front came through and we ended up replanting a lot of that corn. So, you know, this is early March not, not early April. So, I guess it's not unexpected to have a cold snap right now. It's probably normal. But it is a good thing that we're not going to have a lot planted up to right now.

Tom: Well, and I know, you know, just like everything, in these meetings, we talk about prices of inputs and fertilizer, chemicals, seed, you know, everything's going up in cost, fuel. And so, the importance of doing everything right the first time, to me, is going to be even more important this season. Just because we're not going to have a lot of money left in the budget, I don’t think.

Jason: No, that's exactly right. I mean, you know, if you look at the budgets for corn, fertilizer, of course, is the big input. But the second largest for most of our fields is going to be seed and, you know, $125 an acre in seed. You know, you hate to go put it out there and get in a situation where you have to replant. Now, you might get a partial replant credit from the seed company. But still that's, you know, going to be some extra money out of your pocketbook that you really weren't counting on.

Tom: Right. And, you know, speaking of seed, I've got a lot of questions at our grower meetings and actually just really some more comments than questions about not necessarily hybrid selection from a yield standpoint, but more from a herbicide tolerant standpoint. I guess that I've got a lot of comments this winter that there may be more conventional corn planted, just maybe due to expenses. And just because it's a little easier to control weeds in corn than some of our other crops. We might not need that, you know, the Roundup Ready gene and in that hybrid that they want to grow.

Jason: So you know, it is.  Ten years ago really, or maybe it's been longer than that, Tom, it's been several years. But I know one time I figured we probably had 1 or 2% conventional corn in the state. And, you know, there were some little areas that had, you know, that area in Lonoke County, has been an area where they've had conventional corn for quite a while. But, yeah, you can get a discount on the seed and sometimes the premium for non-GMO corn can be pretty substantial. Sometimes it's not. Maybe it depends on how long you want to hold on to that corn in the bin. But you know, I think there are more people looking at that. But then there's others that, like everything, if there's a risk, they're going to pay you a little bit more for it, hopefully. And some people, that extra risk may not be worth it. I've heard a lot of people say that comment in as well, Tom, that I don't want to get any glyphosate drift on my conventional corn and then have issues later on. So yeah, there are some areas where there's a lot of conventional corn. Really, surprising.

Tom: Yeah, and I think, again, with the year with glyphosate being so expensive, I think that gets them to think - well, why do I even need it in my system if, I'm not going to use it in corn this year? Because corn is one of those crops that we have some herbicides available.

Tom: Hopefully atrazine is not going to be on a nationwide shortage this year. If it is, it'll get really, really interesting in in our corn weed control programs. But, yes, we can develop a good we control program without glyphosate. Now, does glyphosate bring a lot to the table for weed control? Yes, it still does, in my opinion, in corn. Especially we talk about grasses and some of our weird weeds, not necessarily pig weed, but I mean, glyphosate or Roundup does add control to our other programs in the in the corn weed management system. So it still does have a value there. Can we get by without using it? Yes, we can. We just got to probably be a little more timely, and we for sure need to have a good supply of atrazine on hand. I'd say if we're not going to go the glyphosate rout. And you know, atrazine is one of those, Jason, that I am hearing that is kind of short as far as a stand alone product. AAtrex or, whatever a generic formulation of atrazine that may be applied to our corn. But in the premixes, it seems like they're still in availability. So, like the Bicep II Magnum, the Harness Xtra, various premixes with atrazine seem to be available. I think if it does become short as a single product, I think we're more likely to get it in a premix.

Jason: Yeah, and kind of like what you mentioned, Tom, I mean, I've heard some producers that back in January or last fall, they had their crop mix plans. You know, “I'm going to have a third soybeans. 50% rice and some corn in there.” And, one of them here awhile back, said, “well, the corn,” like you say, “I can manage weeds pretty easily without Roundup, if I couldn’t get it.”

Jason: And, you know, they had concerns about availability of some of the products for soybeans. And you know, at that point in time, he says, “I going to switch some acres that were intended to go to soybeans, to corn, just because I feel like I've got the inputs to control my weeds.”

Tom: Right. That's exactly right. I think we do. I think we'll be alright. There's a lot of alternatives in corn, a lot of different ways we can manage those weeds, especially in Arkansas and our corn crop. Yeah so, when we think about getting that planter ready to go, is there anything that we really need to get out there, Jason, talking about best management practices before we put that seed in the ground? I mean, is there any final things growers should be thinking about?

Jason: Yeah, I mean, I think so. You know, corn - so much, everything is driven by stand. If we get a 90% stand or 85% stand, we're probably going to have some yield loss there. So, to me, the big thing is don't take the planter out there until the soil conditions are right. Don't push it because it's a little bit wet wanting to get it in, you know. Maybe wait a little bit there. As far as the planters, these planters have so many computer controls now. Right? You know, they're more complicated than some of these computer programs we try to run. But, you know, I think there's really still no substitute for getting off the tractor, getting out there, digging around the seed furrow and figuring out what you got. And so, you know, you'd be surprised how many calls I get the day after somebody planted their first field or the week after their first field emerged. And so they'll say, “well, what do I do with a population of 60,000?” [laughter].  You know 60,000 - that's something that, somewhere along the line, we got things mixed up.

Tom: You left the soybean plate in there or something. [laughter]

Jason: Yeah, we've had that happen. [laughter] Maybe some of the older planters where you’ve got the high-low range gears, maybe you got off one there. For whatever reason, we end up with some that are extremely high populations or extremely low populations. So, to me, there's really no substitute for getting out there and looking. If we’re on 30-inch rows, planting a normal 34,000 seed, that's a seed every six inches. On 38-inch rows at 34,000, that's a seed about every five inches. That's kind of a ballpark to figure out where you're at. But you know, the depth - we hear a lot of advertisements or talk about, “well, two inches deep is really where we need to be.” We've had some planting three inches deep, and I think three inches deep early like this, especially on heavy clay ground, that's probably asking for trouble. So two inch depth, is probably where we need to be at. The down pressure, the closing wheels, you know, there's lots of moving parts there that we want to give that corn the best opportunity to get out of the ground at the same day.

Tom: Absolutely. And of course, when we talk about getting ready to plant and having that field ready, I always, especially with corn, immediately think about weeds and what weeds are out there.  And the number one, or what is quickly becoming our number one weed, especially at planting is going to be ryegrass and state. And we've just seen a tremendous increase in fields infested with glyphosate resistant Italian ryegrass. You know, a lot of this is coming out of ditches and edges of the road, edges of the field and moving out into the field. But still, even though it may be scattered, if we plant into that, we're going to probably sacrifice some yield right off the bat. Jason, looking at some of the data from Mississippi State and Dr. Jason Bond over there and then we're, after this season, hoping to have some of our own data to look at that. But ryegrass is becoming a big issue for us in all crops, especially the crops we're trying to plant early, which corn is going to be one of those.

Jason: You know, Tom, as a former weed scientist, I would say that ryegrass ought to be our number one weed concern in corn, at least up front for sure. Because I see a lot of fields, this year especially, that I don't think it had ever been. You know, every year they just re-hipped up the beds and planted on. But I've seen several fields that they went in and disked. I don't know if they felt like they weren’t going to have the burndown product or maybe they were wanting to change things up. But, tillage, I don't think is really going to be very effective, do you? On ryegrass.

Tom: I really don’t. I think we get in this time of year that ryegrass plant has such a root mass on it. Even today before it starts jointing and turns reproductive, I mean, that root ball is just so large it's hard to get inverted and dried out. You’re really just kind of moving it around more than anything.

Jason: Yeah.

Tom: And going back to what you said about the seed to soil contact and, even depth across the field. As these planters slied off the beds or move into rough areas of the fields, a lot of times at depths not very even as far as seeding depth. And it's going to be that way if you hit a clump of ryegrass too.

Jason: [laughter] Yeah, exactly.

Tom: It’s not going to be a very even depth or placement of that seed. So we really need to focus on residuals in the fall in front of corn and really all our broadleaf crops. Rice becomes a little more difficult. But we really need to focus on fall residuals in front of corn and crops that we're going to plant early because that is the best way to remove that ryegrass population from that field.

Tom: And tillage will work early if you can get them early before that big root mass forms, then we can remove a lot of them with tillage. But in the spring it’s just not very effective.

Jason: Tom, the other day, I told you we were going to that Lee County Corn and Cotton meeting. There was a cotton field there west of Marianna. I went by there last fall, the day they were putting out a fall burndown. And I went back by there the other day, early March, and it was as clean as could be. And I know that field had some ryegrass in it last year. So, you think about saving a burndown and all that. I mean, especially if you're planting early, that there really showed the benefit of some of those fall residuals. Clean as a tack and looked like it was ready to plant.

Tom: Right. Yeah, it can be a huge benefit. At most we may have to run just a hipper, or just something to pull the beds back straight or something at the very least - or at the very most, I guess, if we're using the good fall residual program. If we've got the ryegrass now, unfortunately we might be in a in a two shot application type approach to get it out. With corn, select, if we're using a product that has select or Clethodim in it, that's going to be a 30 day plant back to corn. And so that's not going to fit our window very well with those that want to plant early. So, Gramoxone or anything with Paraquat in it, to me, plus a PSII inhibiting herbicide, could be metribuzin, could be atrazine - will help that Paraquat kill that ryegrass. And that's been my standard recommendation for anybody that calls right now, that wants to plant the corn. Just use the paraquat, plus add either three ounces of dry equivalent metribuzin or a pint of atrazine. But, I'd rather save the atrazine for in-season. And the other option we could add with it is Diuron.  Diuron has a label, but we don't see that many folks doing that in front of corn. Probably metribuzin has the biggest fit to go with the Paraquat, to help it get control of this ryegrass. And, it still may take two applications to get it out. So, I guess my point on that is, don't wait too late to get the ryegrass out of the field - especially those fields going to corn or early planted beans.

Jason: Tom, I see every year that, we talk about all the strategies to control ryegrass. Fall applications, Gramoxone plus something, and then we still have a lot of instances where we have corn up and you have patchy ryegrass, especially along the edges of the field or along the ditch bank, or something like that. What are we recommending in that situation? Where we’ve got corn up, got ryegrass up out there?

Tom: Well, if we get lucky and the ryegrass population is not resistant to ALS herbicides, we can use Accent Q or Steadfast Q. Steadfast works a little better. Of course, if you've got a hybrid that's more sensitive to ALS herbicides, you're going to probably yellow that hybrid up a little bit, maybe stunt it a little bit, depending on the sensitivity there. But, as far as ryegrass control, that's really our only options because glyphosate is not going to work on most of our populations in the state right now.

Jason: Right.

Tom: And to be honest, we've got a graduate student working on screening ryegrass populations, and there's a lot of variability out there with these ALS herbicides I’m mentioning right now. It’s really kind of just a ‘how lucky are you?’ type deal - if you get control with the Accent or the Steadfast. But, I mean, it has worked in the past and I know you've seen some of that and…

Jason: Yeah, I saw some last year that I thought was ALS resistant, but I got really good control with Steadfast Q. So, I was beyond shocked. But different feel, different situation - it might not work as good.

Tom: But it is important to try because, in a year where we have a tight supply of herbicides and our expenses are high for everything, for every input we're going to put into this crop, starting clean is going to be important - so we can maximize our yield. Whatever we need to do to get that ryegrass out of there, we need to try. Then just go from there.

Jason: Totally agree.

Tom: But, you know, if we can keep in terms of weed control, if we can keep that crop weed free for six to eight weeks, we're really over the hump season-long in terms of losing any yield due to weeds. Now, that doesn't mean we won't have a weed problem at the end. I've got a lot of calls lately on morning glories breaking throughout at the end, the last couple of years. But from a yield-robbing standpoint, we need that first six to eight weeks to be weed free. So starting with a good comprehensive program, you know, we always recommend a two application approach in corn - from a weed management standpoint. And there's a lot of different ways we can, or a lot of different herbicides we can add to this mix. But in the past it has been as simple as putting out something like a Dual II Magnum or an S Metolachlor, out at planting. And then coming back with our post emergence mix of something like, Halex GT plus atrazine. Or Capreno plus atrazine and Roundup. I mean, that's probably the two most common programs in Arkansas right there. Either Halex GT or Capreno, plus atrazine. And so, you know, those are going to pick up just about all of our weed issues, as far as summer weeds in corn, summer annual weeds, there can be some that break through that. But if we got a true morning glory problem in a particular field, we really need an application of herbicide containing mesotrione somewhere around that 30 inch corn window to give us any kind of residual activity to last till the end. That will reduce a lot of the morning glories. Probably won't get them all. But you know what I really like, one of the my favorite programs really, in a year where we're going to burning down and planting back pretty quick, is to use a herbicide like Verdict. Verdict's got Sharpen and Outlook in it, and it works very good as a burndown herbicide on our winter annuals as well. So roundup or glyphosate plus 10 announces of Verdict. And, then we're going to have a pretty clean window there until the corn gets to about V3, V4, you know, 12 inches and then come back with our post product mix with atrazine at that point. And so that's worked out well in the past. But it can be as simple as just Dual plus atrazine pre and follow it with, you know, Dual plus atrazine and Roundup post. And that's not great for resistance management, but it works.

Jason: Yeah. And I think a lot of producers are hesitant to put a lot of money in that first application, you know, a lot of Dual or, you know, something like that. Just to tie them over, making sure they get a stand and then they want to, you know, that V3, V4, V5 application is really the critical one.  Isn’t it, Tom?

Tom: Absolutely. And the earlier we plant the less likely we're going to have a lot of competition from our summer annuals. Right? I mean, once we get all into the middle of April, then we're going to have a lot of summer annuals start to start to emerge and compete with our crop. But if we're in a March, early April planting window, we're going to have some time before those summer annuals start to emerge and compete. It is really critical, though, to prevent that competition around that V4 or V5 stage. So, we need to be timely. I can't tell you, you know, we get across a lot of acres really fast, but, I haven't seen what they call an average spring lately at all. 

Jason: [laughter] Yeah.

Tom:  So, I don't know how many spray days we're going to have.  Timely is easy for us to talk about here on the podcast, for everybody to be timely. But real-world scenarios don't play out that easy. And so that's where that residual up front really does buy some insurance to get us to a good spray day, around that V4, V5 window and reduce that weed competition until the end. And that's why I think it works so well for us.

Jason: Yeah.

Tom: Well, anything else we need to talk about? 

Jason: Well, Tom, I think we talked a little bit about planting dates. I know, like I say, we've got some corn going in the ground and of course, you know, somebody starts planting and then his neighbor thinks, “uh-oh, I’m late,” right? [laughter]

Tom: Right. Yeah. [laughter]

Jason: But, you know, our planting date studies, it depends on north to south or where you are in the state, I mean, we've got a four to six week window typically when we can maximize yields. So March 15th to the end of April, kind of depending on where you're at. But South Arkansas you know mid-March to 25th of April, probably would be a good time frame. You know, we got a pretty wide window in there. So I'm shooting for the day that I can get the best stand, not necessarily buy the calendar. And I think that's something, you know, especially when we get people started planting fairly early. I think people want to jump in and start planting as well. But, you know, stands, everything. We still got quite a bit of time. And so I'm not in any big rush to get out there and get my corn planted either.

Tom: Well, and you never know what's going to happen, right? Because last year it seemed like we had another winter, like in the first week of May. Wasn’t it the first week of May last year that it got real cold?

Jason: Yeah, last year or the year before - they all run together. But yeah, sometimes early May it can be pretty cold.

Tom: Right. Yeah, and so you just never know when that's going to happen. We're just hope it's going to be a good year. I think everybody's ready to go and get another one under the belt. You know, right now commodity prices are the positive thing, looking up. And so we just got to be able to afford enough inputs to put in this crop, I guess.

Jason: That's right. That's right. Take advantage of the good prices, or what looks to be good prices. If we can get the inputs and get everything taken care of, I think we're going to have a good year.  It’ll be challenging year, but a different year for sure. But I think for our grain farmers, it's like a good year coming along our well.

Tom: Well alright.  I know they'll be happy to capitalize on that. Well, anything else we need to say before we wrap this up?

Jason: No, I don't think so, Tom. I appreciate the invitation to be here on here today.

Tom: Oh, yeah. Well, we appreciate you joining us for this week's episode of the podcast. And just for our listeners out there, we just want to let you all know that we welcome any feedback that y'all have on these podcasts that we do, again, on a weekly basis. You can email myself at tbarber@uada.edu if you have any comments or any suggestions for future podcasts. Or reach out to Dr. Tommy Butts or Dr. Jason Norsworthy. Again, we thank Dr. Jason Kelly for joining us today, talking about these early season corn planting decisions. And we again, just wish everyone a safe and successful start with the 2022 growing season. Thanks for joining us for this episode of the Weeds AR Wild Podcast series on Arkansas Row Crops Radio.

[Music]: Arkansas Row Crops Radio is a production of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. For more information, please contact your local county extension agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.