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GIVE YOUR SOYBEANS A NEEDED BOOST

Thursday, 08 July 2021 09:50
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Foliar Opp Beans logo Foliar Opp Corn logo Sugar E-Boost logo 2075-SRN logo Max72-SRN logo

 

It is now one year since the last blog on foliar feeding (check out that blog from last year) and a lot has been going on through out the world. There are some things in short supply, especially in the tech field. Commodity prices have the experts baffled. And it snowed in April! What a year!

There have been a lot of acres planted and we are all hoping for perfect conditions to carry our crops through to harvest for record yields to go along with the good prices. One of best ways to help that crop(s) realize that potential is to foliar feed them. Ok, in times of lower commodity prices it can be harder to justify foliar feeding. However, with these prices, realizing a good ROI is much easier. Using a central Missouri new crop corn bid as of 5/7/21, one bushel of corn will pay 80% of a gallon of Max 72 SRN or 2075 SRN. If you are planning on applying fungicide on your corn, adding one gallon of either of these products has the potential to add another two to five bushels to your yield increase with the fungicide program.

Now look at soybean. Local new crop beans closed as of 5/7/21 at almost $14 per bushel. One bushel increase in yield with FOLIAR OPP for Legumes will almost pay for the two gallon recommended rate for the Foliar Opp, and at the V-4 stage of application, you can apply with a herbicide application. If plans are to apply fungicide at early podding, Foliar Opp can be used with that application, too!

There are more advantages to foliar feeding than just an increase in yield, but we all know that is what we are striving for. Here are a few that lead to the increase in yield:

  1. Plant health – A healthy plant is more productive, has less pests, fewer disease problems, and responed to good growing conditions.
  2. Better root systems – good root systems are able to take up more nutrients from the soil. That fertilizer that has been applied to the your field costs a lot more today, help that plant utilize it.
  3. Stress tolerance – Ok, if you have good plant health, good roots, yes, that plant is going to handle stress better.
  4. Ease of application – when you can piggy-back with your herbicide or fungicide application, you get a better yield, therefore, a better ROI.

The opportunity of high commodity prices (at this time of year) doesn’t come along often. With the potential of today’s corn and bean varieties, there is a very good chance to hit a home run with yield and marketing. The products for foliar feeding that we have to offer, and our expertise in using them, could help you realize your goals for this growing season.

Go to our web site to revisit the blog from last year about foliar feeding. It has the timing for the products and alittle about our other products to make foliar feeding work better. Call or email if you have questions about any of our products.

Web address:    www.soilserviceinc.com

Soil Service, Inc office:   info@soilserviceinc.com or 888-313-2360

John Viertel: jviertel@soilserviceinc.com or 573-680-6951 (voice or text)

Rolled Cereal Rye Field on 7/16/19 – John Viertel

Tuesday, 30 July 2019 08:42
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Rolled Cereal Rye field on July 16, 2019

This is a general picture of the Rolled Cereal Rye field that we rolled and planted on June 4. There were no herbicides applied before or after planting. We depended on the mat of residue to help hold down the weeds until it was sprayed on July 5, 2019. This field has a history of heavy foxtail pressure because of hay brought in from Texas during an extreme drought in the early 1950s. Note the excellent job our herbicide program has done. Don’t think there will have to be another herbicide application to this field.

Here is that program (all per acre amounts): 24 oz. SOIL BOOST PLUS®, 32 oz. Landoil®, 32 oz. Max72-SRN®, 16 oz. Sugar E-Boost®, 2 gallons Foliar Opp® for legumes, 36 oz. Liberty, 10 oz. Volunteer, 2.6 oz. Hero.

Here is what the mat of rolled cereal rye looks like on July 16.

Did not have my soil thermometer with me last Tuesday, but I am going to put it in my truck, so the next time I get by this field I can get a soil temp in this field under that mat. Then get a reading in just a no till field. The last time I did that was several years ago comparing the temperature under the straw mulch vs. in bare soil in a minimum till field. The difference was significant then. Will be interesting to see if there are the same results this year. Check back to see the results.

 

John Viertel, CCA

jviertel@soilserviceinc.com

Crop Progress in Central Illinois – Derek Porter

Friday, 14 June 2019 09:08
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What a difference last week made in the planting progress here in Central Illinois and across many areas of the corn belt. Much of the corn in my area has been planted with a slug of beans being put in the ground much of last week through this week. Unfortunately, there are still areas experiencing wet conditions. I talked to one guy out in Ohio that’s still experiencing wet conditions and it sounded like there was a strong possibility for him to take prevent plant on all his corn acres and if conditions don’t improve, beans might not be planted either. Driving around central Illinois, I would say the condition of the corn crop has improved as we’ve dried things out but there are plenty of fields that are still riding the struggle bus compared to what we normally would expect this time of year in central Illinois. Some corn that is V3 and earlier is trying to establish its nodal root system which might cause yellowing in some fields particularly ones that have been waterlogged and compacted. Soil microbes are also starting to ramp up as conditions dry out and are tying up some of the nitrogen, sulfur, and other nutrients in the soil in order to break down old crop residues. This will cause yellowing in both corn and soybeans and is often referred to as the carbon penalty. Any yellowing seen in corn early on is likely to limit top end yield potential particularly in hybrids that flex in girth. In soybeans, this yellowing will likely go away once the soybean starts to make its own nitrogen which is at the V4 stage and shouldn’t limit yield potential a whole lot. A good way to manage this carbon penalty is to apply some nitrogen either broadcast or with your planter along with some sulfur. I had one grower apply some liquid UAN with some thiosulfate out the back of his planter and he saw a pretty good response in the early growth of his corn.

Speaking of early growth, phosphate-based starter fertilizer’s such as our Crop Choice® 3-18-18-1 or 9-18-9-1 that have a high concentration of phosphorus, push energy production and ultimately growth in the plant. Even if corn was planted late this year, I still expect to see a positive yield response if you used a phosphate-based starter fertilizer such as our Crop Choice blends. The positive yield response could even be as much or more than is typically seen when starter fertilizer is applied earlier in the season. This is due to the accelerated growth that should lead to earlier pollination and a longer grain fill period. This in turn will give about a week more of grain fill leading to higher kernel weight which will be the key to high yields with late planted corn. Usually lack of starch accumulation in the kernels due to a shortened ear fill window is why corn doesn’t yield quite as well when it’s planted late.  

I’m also seeing a lot of sulfur and zinc deficiencies throughout the area and a foliar feed of these nutrients with your post emerge herbicides might be warranted. Our Foliar Opp® contains both sulfur and zinc plus other micronutrients and our Max72-SRN® contains sulfur but can be blended with zinc and other micronutrients as needed. We’ve seen both products add 5-10 bushels in corn when combined with our Sugar E-Boost®. With cash corn at $4.50 here in central Illinois, it only takes 2 bushels of corn to pay for this application.

I’m also seeing good performance out of our Landoil® and Soil Boost spray adjuvants. Once again both adjuvants are proving to be safe on the crop with very little herbicide response being observed in fields that had a full label rate of herbicide applied to them.

I hope things are looking better on your operation as we progress through this tough growing season. If you have any questions you can call our office or contact myself or other Soil Service salesman in your area.

 

Derek Porter

Sales Manager

309-267-6905

dporter@soilserviceinc.com

Crop response of running UAN with thiosulfate on the planter.

Crop response of using a phosphate based starter (3-18-18-1 on the left) gives a rapid growth response that accelerates corn growth by 1 week.

Corn yellowing due to the carbon penalty.

Sulfur deficiency on corn appears as yellow stripping between the veins. Zinc and other micronutrients such as manganese can look similar.      

 

Landoil and Soil Boost Extreme did an outstanding job controlling weeds and provided excellent crop safety. 

 

Nutrapathic™ Soil Restore and Nutrapathic™ Liquid Bacteria Concentrate

Monday, 06 May 2019 14:04
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Nutrapathic™ Soil Restore and Nutrapathic™ Liquid Bacteria Concentrate

There are more and more companies in the agriculture field, not to mention the horticulture and organic fields, who are developing and marketing biological products to help build soil health, breakdown residue, develop healthier plants, and improve yields. SOIL Service, Inc. has been promoting this for at least the last fifteen years that I personally have been associated with them.

We have used the Soil Restore and Liquid Bacteria Concentrate on our own farms, done research with them, side by side comparisons on customers farms, and personally, I have done a Soil Health Study on a thirty-acre farm on our Central Missouri operation.

 What are mycorrhizae?

Mycorrhizae are naturally occurring beneficial fungi that attach to the plant root system, spreading filaments inside and outside of the roots, working as an extension of the root of almost every plant. Soil fumigations, fungicides, tillage, and overuse of synthetic fertilizers can destroy mycorrhizae fungi.

Functions of mycorrhizae

Mycorrhizae improves soil structure, reduces fertilizer rates, and increases growth response. This fungus also protects roots from soil toxins, diseases, and insects. It seeks out nutrients from a far greater soil area than the plant can access by itself and regulates the uptake of nutrients in response to the plant needs. Plants have greater resistance to invasion of weeds and insects because plants are healthier. Fungi are a largely responsible for stabilizing calcium. Soil low in fungi will permit calcium to leach.

Functions of bacteria

Bacteria is able to perform a wide range of chemical changes, including breakdown of organic matter and disease suppression. They are also useful in providing nitrogen to plants. Nutrapathic Liquid Bacteria Concentrate contains bacteria that colonize the plant rhizosphere, promoting plant growth and suppressing plant pathogens. Plant growth is credited to the phytase activity that provides plants with phosphate. It also produces a variety of proteases, amylases, and gluconases.

Our experience with Soil Restore and Liquid Bacteria Concentrate has shown that providing more mycorrhizae and beneficial bacteria that these products provide to our soil do the following:

Plants:

  • Plant health improves
  • Plants are more robust
  • Deeper and more robust root systems
  • Better stress tolerance

Soil:

  • Better transfer of nutrients to plant roots (especially phosphorous)
  • Suppression of disease pathogens in the soil
  • Stabilizes calcium
  • Breakdown of plant residue, especially plant roots, helping build O.M.
  • Better water infiltration

Bottom line, by using Soil Restore and Liquid Bacteria Concentrate we get better yields from our crops.

What have we seen in the Soil Health Study Field in Central Missouri, we have just no-tilled, cover crops (grazing the covers with the cow herd), rotated (corn, beans, and wheat), some tillage with the Rogue VT®, and very little P & K fertilizer, and Crop Choice® starter and foliar fertilizers, and Soil Restore & Liquid Bacteria Concentrate on a three year program (one ingredient in the Nutrient Recycling Program)?

  • Better soil tilth
  • More water infiltration during large rain events
  • Better stress tolerance in the crops
  • Increase in Organic Matter (2.9 in 2012 to 3.5 in 2018)
  • More earth worms
  • Much better overall yields with less fertilizer then fields on same farm not treated.

Soil Restore and Liquid Bacteria concentrate can not only be used with the Nutrient Recycling Program, but also with any starter program in the row. It can also be added to a liquid 32% fertilizer application, or in any herbicide program. We have had really great success applying in the fall as the NRP to start the break down of corn residue.

We have some great programs that we have promoted for years and we know they work. So, if you have some interest in applying a biological this year on your farm, get in touch with us at SOIL Service, Inc. You can do that by calling or emailing at the following:

John Viertel – MO Sales Manager

info@soilserviceinc.com

888-313-2360

The Benefits of using Landoil, Soil Boost Plus, and Soil Boost Extreme – John Viertel

Wednesday, 06 February 2019 11:09
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SOIL BOOST EXTREME spray surfactant logo

SOIL BOOST EXTREME spray surfactant logo

 

I can’t believe that it is the first week of February 2019 already. The first of April is only seven weeks away! Looks like right now it could be wet going into planting season this year here in Missouri. If you remember, last year it was cool and very dry when burndown herbicides were being applied.

Why do I mention this? We need to start planning for burndown before planting. Last year, I had some questions about why the burndown herbicides were working so slow. The biggest reason was that the cover crops, weeds, whatever was out there that people were trying to get rid of were under stress from the cool, dry conditions. They just were not growing. If the target plants are under stress, burndown herbicides don’t work as well. It states on labels “Apply to actively growing plants”. When plants are under stress, they will not take in the herbicide as well as when they are actively growing. Therefore, we have always recommended to use SOIL BOOST PLUS and LANDOIL in all herbicide mixes.

SOIL BOOST PLUS buffers the water (which makes up the bulk of a spray mixture) making sure the herbicide is not tied up by the metal ions in the water (calcium and iron, i.e.). It will also bring the pH of that spray solution down (5 to 5.5) so that the burn down works efficiently. It is very important to buffer the spray water before any herbicide is added! SOIL BOOST PLUS satisfies the AMS requirement of glyphosate. If a producer is using one of the new dicamba or 2-4d products for the burndown, then SOIL BOOST EXTREME should be the product of choice. Is now on the approved list to use with these chemistries. Both SOIL BOOST PLUS and SOIL BOOST EXTREME help absorption and translocation by the target plants.

So why is LANDOIL recommended to be added? LANDOIL is a plant-based crop oil, soybean oil. When it is used to on a 1:1 ration with the burndown herbicide, it encapsulated the chemical. Then when the spray solution goes on the target plants, they recognize the solution as another plant material and are friendlier to accepting the chemical herbicide to be absorbed and then translocated throughout the plant killing it.

For those of us that are using cover crops and no-tilling, the burndown operation is very critical to the success of the crop. Using SOIL SERVICE, INC. products like SOIL BOOST PLUS and/or SOIL BOOST EXTREME, along with LANDOIL helps to ensure that this operation is a success.

SOIL SERVICE, INC. will be at the both the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville and the Western Farm Show in Kansas City in the coming weeks. Stop by our booth and visit about these options for your burndown herbicide programs this spring.

 

John Viertel, MO Sales Manager