Air September 7 - 13, 2006
Don't re-cut that new growth
This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. Like many of you, I have been taking note of all that nice regrowth in brome grass fields and hay meadows. With the cooler weather and all that rain, the bromegrass especially is really taking off and growing, no doubt using some of that fertilizer it never got a chance to use last spring. I have had several people ask me whether or not it would be okay in a few weeks to go in and take another cutting of hay off that brome field, and I had the opportunity to visit with Gary Kilgore, SE Area Extension Agronomist and one of the most knowledgeable men in Kansas on brome grass. His response was quite frankly the same as mine. Don't do it!! We have a word of advice for producers who try to take two cuttings of brome off in a year. That word is replant. Those brome plants have been extremely stressed in recent years. The weather has not been good to the plants, and in all honesty, many of the fields have been mowed entirely too short when they have been hayed. So right now, the plants need to have a chance to do some growing, rebuilding and recovering. And that will probably take another 4 to 6 weeks. Now, once we get to late October or early November, I think it would be perfectly acceptable to allow some grazing of that fall regrowth, but manage it carefully and don't let the animals grub it into the ground. I still would not advise haying it this fall. For native grass, basically the same thing. But with the native meadows or pastures, after about October 15th you are safe to go back in and hay off or graze that regrowth because the plants have shut down for winter. This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.
Green Cloverworms in soybeans - sorghum headworm in milo
This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. We've got some worms active out in those soybean and milo fields. Okay, they aren't earthworms, they're green cloverworms and sorghum headworms. Green cloverworms are busy in soybean fields. Since the change in the weather in mid August, we've had a big hatch of these rascals. They are a light green worm, often with a white line running the full length of their body. They feed on leaves and as they get bigger they will start feeding on pods. Treatment thresholds for most of our fields are going to be fairly high, probably in the range of about 12 or 13 per foot of row, 9 to 10 in double crop beans. I would really be surprised if fields reach treatment threshold. One thing we've got working for us is that these cool nights and good moisture have also fired up a naturally occurring fungus that kills the cloverworm. If you think that you've got a population that justifies treating, give me a call and I'll come out and take a look. Sorghum headworm is another caterpillar that feeds in developing sorghum heads, and also goes by several other names including tomato fruitworm, cotton bollworm and corn earworm. Same insect, the name just changes depending on what they are feeding on. They like grain sorghum from bloom through the milk stages. Once the sorghum gets into soft dough or hard dough, they pretty well quit feeding. Probably most of the damage is already done, but if you have a late field they may still be active, but yield potential may not justify spraying. If you are averaging over one larvae per head, we may want to talk about it though - the good news is that they are easy to kill. This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.
Sericea lespedeza control
This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. Sericea lespedeza is a non native legume that, like so many introduced plants, has become a noxious and troublesome weed! It can be difficult to control using typical weed and brush control techniques. Fortunately we have a great window of opportunity to treat anytime from now until first freeze. If by chance, the sericea you need to treat hasn't started to flower yet, you can use triclopyr, commonly sold as Remedy. However, since most of it is probably blooming now, a better choice is to use metsulfuron, which can be purchased as Escort, Ally and Cimarron. The important thing with either of these products is good and thorough coverage of the foliage. If the sericea is in a pasture with cattle, you really need to move the cattle once the sericea has started to produce seed, because the cattle will spread the seed around the rest of the pasture. Likewise, those areas should not be hayed after seed production starts. But treating this fall is just the start of the control process. Like all legumes, sericea produces lots of small, hard seed. So plan to burn the pasture next spring, or at least the area where the sericea was. The burning actually stimulates more of the seeds to sprout and start growing. Once the sericea starts to regrow, graze the area heavily. This helps weaken the plant. Pull the cattle off no later than mid-July, allow 4 to 6 weeks of regrowth and then spray with Remedy anytime before flowering, as long as the plant is not drought stressed. Monitor these areas for several years because it will take that long to get all the seed sprouted. This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.
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