Straight From the Horse's Mouth

by Duane A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator, Webster County October 3, 2009 Edition It seems like an eternity since I sat down to this computer to put words to this column. A lot has been happening during that time frame. I first had the opportunity to travel to Portland, Oregon for the National Association of County Agricultural Agents National Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference. I know, that is a mouthful, but that is what it is. I serve as Past President of the Nebraska Association and was there to represent Nebraska at the conference and serve on the NACAA Animal Science Committee. We also learned about some of the research and emerging issues that are coming down the pike and will try to update my readers on these topics as they arrive. I was also honored to receive a national award for agricultural communications for newsletters while there. It is nice to receive credit from your peers beyond the borders of our state. It was amazing to fly into the Willamette Valley between the majestic mountains that make up the Cascades. We flew pretty close to Mt. Hood and some other peaks that I had no idea of their name. You could see why this valley would be the destination of farmers following the Oregon Trail. It is a region rich in agricultural resources. The city of Portland is called the “City of Roses” and has some interesting concepts such as half blocks so that more businesses can have the coveted corner location. Half-blocks made walking a dozen blocks not so bad, although, it was kind of fun taking the metro train throughout the city square for free. Portland has a unique track system that takes you most anywhere in the city for either no cost or minimal cost depending upon your destination. The different culture was very evident to me with the piercings and tattoos, vagrants and homeless, panhandlers, trashy lots, etc. It is always good to get back home. I have always liked to attend and watch the youth compete at Ak-Sar-Ben in Omaha that is held in conjunction with the River City Roundup. This year was no exception. I actually flew right from Portland to Omaha, and arrived just in time to meet some area 4-H exhibitors who had just arrived with their animals. During this past weekend I worked with the beef crew checking in beef and taking DNA samples on random cattle and then on the division champions. I had the best seat in the house for the breeding beef show, serving as the official announcer. I have to tell you that there were some names that I wasn’t too familiar with, and probably fumbled some of those names. It was fun watching our area youth prepare and show their animals. South Central Nebraska was well represented. I found out later that the beef show was shown real time on the DV Auction web site. Think how things have changed over the years. One thing that hasn’t changed is the special feel of the Ak-Sar-Ben experience. Another thing that happened while I was gone was the maturing of the soybeans and corn, and in fact I drove past dusty fields with combines and trucks bringing in this year’s soybean harvest on the way home. I couldn’t wait to get back home to see how harvest was going and how the crops were turning out. I awoke the next day and headed to the local co-op for coffee and the field reports. I was of course interested in the harvest progression. The first thing I heard was that the beans were dry but the stems were wet. Producers told me that the beans were testing 8-9% moisture but in many fields it was like cutting rags to get the beans. Some also report some “lima” beans and green pods that make it to the bin. Reports of yields seem to reflect the group of beans, the type of system or tillage, whether it was irrigated or dryland, and more in particular who got rain and who didn’t. There are areas of very good yields and some that aren’t so good, much like the spottiness of what little rain we had in this part of the country. Most corn that was tried was too wet, but with some dryland corn being harvestable at about 16% moisture. Those shelling out corn to test in many irrigated fields indicated that they were seeing above 20% moisture with some up towards 30% but with the dry winds the last couple of days it was drying down pretty good. Some farmers I talked to think that there are some pretty good yields out in the irrigated soybeans and especially in corn to be harvested. Some others with longer season corn say it will be a late harvest once again. Not good for cattlemen looking for stalks. In talking to producers and a couple of agronomists, I also got a feel that they are worried about several things with the delayed harvest. I knew that we would see this with the lack of growing days all summer long with cool days and cool nights, even with the dry conditions. Along with that delay come expected challenges, and those are starting to show up. Some fields are exhibiting a high degree of stalk rot and I have some sketchy reports of some ear rot (possibly Diplodia). This wind, while being good for drying is not so good for stalk-rot weakened stalks and there is a lot of lodging that is starting to take place. Bean fields are exhibiting some typical pod splitting which hastens the need to get them out. One thing that was a bit of a surprise is some bean stems that are snapping off in the wind carrying their pods to the ground. I had noticed some fields that exhibited early browning almost a month ago but thought it was effect of the lack of rain. Now it turns out that some of those spots were more likely due to stem borer. The good news is that those that got their wheat in are seeing emergence. Those that haven’t are definitely past the Hession Fly-free date and have dry fields to plant in. But, now is the awkward time where we need rain for the wheat, but need dry for harvest. Isn’t this game fun? The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu