June 26, 2022 Edition
"What
would happen if you fasted for seven days?
No food consumption; only water for a week. In all seriousness, it would probably be the
healthiest thing a person could do for their body!" – Dr. Eric Berg
Now
this may sound extreme on the cuff, but there are some human health experts
promoting the term “intermittent fasting”.
Intermittent fasting will probably have slightly different meanings to various people, but it’s basically an
extended fast that would last at minimum a few hours longer than a natural
overnight fast of 10-12 hours.
Supposedly, intermittent fasting and a low-carbohydrate diet go hand in
hand for sustaining the body in a comfortable manner during extended
fasting. As the body and mind becomes
more accustomed to fasting, it’s not uncommon for the intermittent fasting to
theoretically last into the range of 48-72 hours and beyond.
If you think about it in nature, does the wild animal eat three square meals a day? Does the coyote always catch the rabbit? Does the polar bear ever fail at catching the seal? Does the lion pride make a big kill daily? I recently watched a documentary on the Anaconda python snake and the narrator commented about this adult snake eating only once a year! It is very common for animals in the wild to go without food for several days while they still find energy for family activity and searching for their next meal. Conversely, in our high convenience human lifestyle of today, there are consistent and abundant food opportunities, making it easy for a person to have several caloric intake sessions throughout the day. Someone once said that if humans were meant to eat like a bird, they would have given us feathers and a beak!
In
our current point in human history where many adult people fight common ailments
(high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, arthritis, dementia,
allergies, etc.), could there be a correlation that it originates from 1) the
common high carbohydrate foods we consume and 2) the frequency of consuming
these foods. Therefore, maybe a change
of pace with some intermittent fasting would be positively life changing? If you’re in the mood for a personal
challenge, conduct some of your own personal research on the topic. At the very least, you can learn about
intermittent fasting, low-carb foods, and all the benefits they can together
bring for the mind and body.
Trying
different things doesn’t come easy, but how do you or your business grow if you
don’t try something new for yourself, your farm, or your employees? Life is always full of changes, opportunities,
and adaptations – which ones should we tackle to make the most difference?
Weather
If nothing else, this spring has given us farm producers the
personal challenge of persevering though some very challenging conditions. From the excess moisture, consistent high
river water levels, and the wind, we always seem to be knee deep in
a challenge despite our best efforts.
I’ll place the date of May 24th as the mid-point
of corn planting in the region this spring to shed some light on corn growing degree days (GDD’s
or heat units) for the season. If you
take the May 24th date and compare it to the prior 5-year average for
GDD’s, we are trending about equal for the 2022 growing season through June 26th
– see figure below). However, the same comparison over a 30-year average would show the 2022 season about 3-6 days ahead (around 40-80 GDD's - data not shown). I would estimate our region would normally have an average
plant date of May 10th and therefore, adding it all together, I’d estimate that we are somewhere around 8 to 11 days behind where we would
normally find ourselves for crop development at this point in late June - nothing we can't easily overcome over the next two to three months.
If we do not catch-up on the heat units and remain only on an average path for growing degree days for
the remainder of the season (with an average frost date of September 25th),
we can see a GDD accumulation (30 year average) total of somewhere between 1800
and 2000 for most of our Far Northern Plains region (2nd chart). Two-thousand GDD’s should place most of our Pioneer 85
RM and under corn hybrids in a good spot to reach physiological maturity (black
layer) or at least get close enough to maintain adequate grain quality (53-54
lb/bu test weight) assuming we get near normal solar radiation as well. Eighteen-hundred GDD's will get most Pioneer 75 RM and under hybrids to full physiological maturity.
Along with the late start of planters and
air-drills, the rain over the spring has been the other key outlier. Many places north of US Hwy 2 in North Dakota
and Minnesota have had over 10 inches of precipitation since mid-April, while a
few locations have had over 12 inches (Adams, Argyle, Warren and Thief
River Falls). South of US Hwy 2, both
Finley and McHenry along Hwy 200 have received over 15” of precipitation. Even though many of these early rains found
frozen soil and ran to the rivers, the rains over the prior 5-6 weeks did
replenish soil profiles, placing our young crops in a good spot with soil moisture
heading into July.
Crop
Protection Tank-mixes
As usual, remind your spray crew that the mixing order
will be in the product label as well. Good
luck this spray season and above all else, be safe!
Freedom
to Spray
With most of the area’s soybean acres planted after Memorial
Day this year, the freedom to spray Enlist herbicides over other competitive
technologies will shine bright. Many
soybean acres are just now in that window for the first shot of post-emerge herbicide,
and the June 30th cut-off date for dicamba is just a few days away.
Along with no calendar cut-off dates, Enlist One and Enlist Duo can be applied through the end of R1 (early flowering growth stage), we have other great advantages to the Enlist weed control system:
· * No time-of-day restrictions (still must avoid
temperature inversions)
· * Near-zero volatility (90% less drift potential
with 2,4-D choline than other 2,4-D formulations)
· * No Drift Reduction Agents (DRA) needed
· * Can tank-mix Enlist One with glufosinate (Liberty®) and AMS
· * More qualified nozzle options for better
coverage
· * New Pioneer proprietary A-Series soybean varieties
with the Enlist-3® trait to drive yield advantages
“Knee-high by the 4th of July” is the common phrase, but it has transgressed into more waist-high in recent history as we continue to push planting dates and corn relative maturities to gain extra hybrid performance (bushels). Although the corn crop was planted late this spring, we should still reach “knee-high” in early July and pollination by the end of July with average weather. The calendar benchmark for pollination is more critical in my eyes, as the grain-fill timeframe in corn is 8-9 weeks, regardless of hybrid RM. If the corn crop should pollinate much after August 1st, then we’re theoretically looking at very early October just for the corn to reach physiological maturity (black layer). Typical corn grain moisture content at black layer is around 32%, making it very beneficial to hit that black layer point during the last 10-12 days in September to grab the opportunity for some natural grain drying in the field. Once October hits in our neck of the woods, we just don't consistently receive enough heat for quick natural field drying.
Currently,
most of the corn is in the V5-V7 stages and is setting its maximum ear girth (kernel
number around) and will be determining ear length starting in a couple weeks
(V11-V14). It’ll be interesting to see if
our nitrogen and sulfur levels will hold with the abundant rainfall we have received
so far this growing season. Operations conducting side-dress nitrogen applications should be at an advantage in mid-late August when the crop is still needing adequate nitrogen to finish strong.
I seen some early maturity soybeans just starting to
flower earlier this week. As soybeans
begin to flower and the June 30th date passes, our herbicide options
begin to dwindle. Even with the late
planting dates on most of the soybeans, once the soybean plant begins to sense
the days becoming shorter, it triggers the reproductive hormones in the plant. The unique characteristic about soybeans is the plant can begin reproductive stages and continue to develop vegetative trifoliates concurrently. Early flowers on short plants are not hugely desirable, but the key is to keep the plants healthy - minimize stress due to herbicide metabolism/leaf burn, keep insect and disease pressure low (value in seed treatment fungicide and insecticide), full sunlight, adequate fertility, and soil moisture. Managing for healthy soybeans during early flowering will maximize leaf area to produce and sustain enough energy for full support of pod and seed development, as well as minimize pod abortion.
2022 Agronomy
Research Summary
I have attached our 2022 Pioneer Agronomy Research
Summary book. There are some excellent articles on many of the topics that
we have conversed about over the winter and spring.
Web-link: https://corteva.showpad.com/share/WNecGVobHmsdZ4OjFDODF
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