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| Duane A. Lienemann UNL Extension Educator |
Lightning and thunder, but no rain! This growing year is getting to feel and look more and more like last year. It is not fun to watch our dry-land corn turn into pineapples and soybeans into cups. It is awful to see the condition of our pastures and hay lands. It started out somewhat promising, but that has quickly turned as we have been on the short side of the moisture rationing once again. If we don’t get some rain in the next few days I am afraid we are going to see some disasters for our rain-fed crops. You certainly can tell the difference a little water can make by looking at the pivot corners. What a dramatic difference that is. You can also spot fields that were conventionally tilled rather than eco-fallowed or no-tilled. We may want to look at some options with these fields if this condition continues much longer.
Drought Effected Crops: There are some dry-land corn fields that are really starting to show the stress of heat and lack of water. They are, as I noted above, “pineappling” and some are starting to downright wither. You may notice the blue color that seems to radiate from many of these fields, but primarily corn. My first impulse is to suggest cutting your losses, contact your FSA and insurance offices and consider swathing and rolling up the corn before it gets to the point where it won’t even make good feed. Then consider that this “forage” may be very high in nitrates so testing would be in order for sure. Another thought may be to consider cutting the corn for silage as that will cut down the nitrates that may be there. I know, it hasn’t made it to tasseling, let alone putting on an ear which makes the best silage, but it is a viable option if you are looking to be short on feed for cattle that will likely be coming off pastures early this year.
When grain crops have been established satisfactorily, and rainfall is insufficient to support grain yields for economic harvesting, alternative uses of the crop should be considered very cautiously. This is especially true with respect to fields which have been fully fertilized with nitrogen for normal yields. Crops which are sufficiently drought-stressed that the plant will not reach maturity or if grain yields will be too low for harvest; and the alternative of harvesting the crop for its forage value is considered; then the producer might want to consider collecting stover samples and have them analyzed for excessive nitrates. Plants that are stressed by drought may accumulate nitrate to lethal levels. It is important to remember that nitrates accumulate in the bottom part of the stalk and diminishes as you go up. Nitrates will not decrease in harvested crop plants - but can be cut almost in half by making the forage into silage. Therefore it is very important to have the nitrate test run on the plant tissue before it is either grazed or mechanically harvested for livestock consumption.
Of course the best way is to take the samples to a professional lab but there is a quick and easy test that the farmer can do to determine if he should take samples in for quantitative tests. There is a simple “Diphenylamine” quick test applied to cornstalks that has been used in the field by farmers to determine tissue nitrate levels greater than 1 percent. You can contact our office for step by step instruction on how to do this. It should be noted that the test is not quantitative, but it may be useful to determine the need for more accurate testing at a commercial laboratory.
One thing is certain, high-nitrate forages chopped for silage and properly ensiled are a safer option for livestock feeding than rolling it up. During the ensiling process, normally the rule of thumb says that 50 percent of the nitrates in the forage will be metabolized by the microbes, which can vastly reduce the risk of poisoning. However, it is still good to test silage for nitrates before feeding. Silage can still contain toxic levels if the initial level was very high. Nitrates are reduced during ensiling; however, the reduction can range from 20-80%, while forage that was dry going into the silage pile may only have a 20% reduction. The problem is – is there enough forage in the fields at this point to make it worth putting it up as silage? That makes a person think that the best way to get the “bang for the buck” may be to swath and bale up the corn before it deteriorates any further and then --be careful in feeding it. When in doubt – test!
Stinking Smut in Wheat: With the combines rolling through the fields and the wheat coming into the elevators there has been some concern with smut showing up in fields across the area. This disease is known as Common Bunt or Stinking Smut. Unfortunately this disease is hard to identify until harvest time. Stinking Smut or Common Bunt is where the normal wheat kernel is replaced with a gray colored ball otherwise known as “bunt balls”. When the infected seed or bunt ball is squeezed, masses of black spores will emerge that have a smell of rotten fish! These spores are how this fungal disease is spread by coming in contact with the seed prior to it germinating. This can happen during the harvesting when the bunt ball is broke open, or it can also be in equipment such as augers or trucks used to move seed wheat. The spores can also be moved by the wind or live in the soil for up to 10 years – ready to infect. They can also live in a bin.
If you were affected this year by stinking smut you may want to consider some things: Next year plant certified wheat seed that is disease-free and cleaned to remove any broken kernels and as many smut spores on the seed as possible; Practice crop rotation and control volunteer wheat; Clean the equipment around the farm from the combine to the drill and anything else in between that seed will come in contact with; and Remember that seed treatment fungicides are the first line of defense against seed-borne fungal diseases like common bunt. We could eliminate bunt if everyone would do this!
Note to Cattlemen: The new Nebraska Beef State vanity license plate was chosen. It is the Sandhills grazing scene!
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 or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/home
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