Weekly Ag Update

By ned birkey

msu EXTENSION EDUCATOR EMERITUS

SPARTAN AG 

The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center’s outlook through May 19 is finally calling for moderating temperatures, though just a near normal outlook for now, and perhaps drying out a bit, with an outlook for just leaning above normal precipitation. Eric Snodgrass has a chart that confirms that our area of southeast Michigan has had the wettest spring in 134 years of data, since 1893, followed closely by northwest Ohio and northeast Indiana.

Agriculture Awareness Days or Rural Education Days (Project RED) to educate youth (and their parents) about agriculture and where their food comes from are common in schools at this time of the year. For grains, rice is the most consumed grain, eaten by over 4 billion people every day. Wheat is number two in the world, with tributes given to Norman Borlaug, considered the “Father of the Green Revolution.” He is credited with saving over one billion people from starvation through new wheat varieties and adaptive techniques. Wheat is considered the “staff of life” and could be eaten perhaps three times a day by many Americans and others. Corn, or maize, is the number three grain in the world and was grown from South American to Canada by the time Christopher Columbus came to America. The potato is the number four food eaten in the world, but is not a grain, so that distinction goes to soybeans, partly due to its dominant role in animal feed and oil production.

Winter wheat will be heading out very soon, so scouting now remains important.  The flag and flag -1 leaves generate 80-plus percent of the yield potential and need to be protected from diseases. Once the heads come out, using the Penn State Fusarium Head Blight Prediction Model will be useful for predicting and hopefully helping farmers prevent head scab and possibly vomitoxin.

Nematodes and weeds are a dangerous combination. Soybean cyst nematodes (SCN) populations will increase with the infestations of weeds in no till or fields too wet for tillage and weeds have had the chance to grow. Winter annual weeds such as henbit, pennycress and purple deadnettle allow for increases in SCN, while yellow rocket does not. For fields going into soybeans next year, a soil test for SCN this fall will help with soybean variety selection and weed management decisions.

Gardening is good for you, said Dr. Deborah Benzil, of the Cleveland Clinic, providing mental health, brain and physical health benefits, relieves stress, improves mood, fosters social connections and offers the benefit of sunshine and vitamin D. A big benefit is eating good, healthy food that we enjoyed planting and then harvesting. Gardening can be done by almost anyone and is an adaptable activity for those with limited mobility using raised beds and those with limited space, using containers.