August 22, 2022 Edition
“Hey Maay-horn, are you guarding me? I’m over here!” – Larry Bird, NBA Hall of
Famer
It was
Eastern Conference NBA play-off basketball in May of 1987, and despite the
verbal taunting from Bird, Rick Mahorn (properly pronounced muh-Horn) and the
Detroit Pistons had just prevented the Celtics, and Larry Bird specifically,
from scoring the go-ahead basket late in the 4th quarter on the
famous parquet floor. The Pistons were
rewarded possession of the ball, had a one-point lead, a full time-out to
spare, and five seconds remaining on the game clock. Mahorn and his teammates were just moments
away from getting a critical playoff win.
However, Larry Bird kept his mind in the game, and executed one of the
greatest steals of his career and arguably in all of basketball history. The famous Johnny Most play-by-play quote is
highly reminisced, “Annnnnd - now there’s a steal by Bird, underneath to DJ,
lays it in!”
It was Game 5
of the Eastern Conference Finals with the series tied at two games apiece and
the home team winning each of the prior games in the series. Obviously, the Pistons should have won this
game and in the process gained home court advantage, but the Piston’s got
caught-up in their excitement of the moment, forwent on calling that time-out,
and then threw a terrible pass to give the game foolishly away.
The Celtics
only had seven total steals in the game, but obviously the final one led
directly to the game winning assist to help propel the Celtics to another World
Championship Finals appearance. Larry
Bird finished with a game high 36 points to go along with 12 rebounds and 9
assists. The Pistons came back with a
convincing win in Detroit in Game 6 but didn’t have the resolve to win a Game 7
on the road against a veteran Celtics team and defending NBA champions.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198705260BOS.html
It’s a
48-minute game in the NBA and they play it out to the very end regardless of
the circumstances. Even though our crops
prospered well during this growing season in June and July, they have
encountered some tougher conditions with dry weather over the past month. In another month, the growing season for row
crops will be very near complete, and the combines will tell the remainder of
the story for the 2022 ag year.
Weather
Leading up to the weather event across the region on Aug
17-18, most all farm managers were not shy in stating the need for some
rainfall to maintain the strong yield outlook on the row crops. With the soybeans in pod set, the corn in
early grain fill stages, the sugarbeets at full canopy, and the sunflowers
blooming, row crop water use has been close to two inches per week since the
end of July. Soil moisture profiles were
near full at the mid-July timeframe, but the rainfall has been sparse and
spotty since.
The Aug 17-18 rain event in the northeastern part of
N.Dakota and into northwestern MN has provided some drought relief, but the precipitation
totals were very inconsistent across the region.
Our corn GDDs were above average in the month of June and July
but have slowed down to more of an average pace for the month of August. With an average corn planting date for our
region of May 10th, our “departure from normal” GDD accumulation for
the season places us anywhere from five to six days ahead to five to six days
behind the 30-year average (1981 to 2020).
Greenbush, MN and Grafton, ND lag the most, while Ada, MN, Hope, ND and
Cooperstown, ND in the Hwy 200 corridor are significantly above average.
Overall, we remain in a spot that is very favorable for full
season crops considering that a majority of fields were not planted until after
the Memorial Day weekend. Add to this
the favorable precipitation we had in June and early July, and the outlook
remains positive despite the high variability in rain over the past 4-5 weeks.
If we can receive average GDD accumulation from this point
until the end of the growing season, corn planted at the end of May or first
week of June will still need the entire month of September to remain frost free
to get close or to physiological maturity.
Corn planted before the Memorial Day weekend will be in the best spot
for maturity if we get a late September frost.
Many of the weather models are calling for a warmer and dryer than average
September – the heat will be welcome, but we need some assistance with late
season rainfall as well.
Crop
Progress
Most of the corn is in the milk to soft dough stage (R3/R4)
and will be hitting the long dent stage shortly. From beginning dent to black layer or
physiological maturity (PM), we typically need about 5 weeks of frost-free
weather. For the soybeans, most fields
are in pod fill stages and still have about 30 days until full maturity. The below charts provide some good visual
references to monitor maturity and the weblinks provide additional information
on managing with an early frost.
https://www.pioneer.com/us/agronomy/managing_delayed_or_frostdamaged_soybeans.html
https://www.pioneer.com/us/agronomy/Managing_for_DelayedCorn_Crop.html
Dicamba’s
EPA Review
The growth regulator herbicide dicamba is currently undergoing
scheduled EPA review for re-registration.
Review of all EPA approved pesticides is required every 15 years to
ensure risk assessments are reflective of the latest research methods, science,
consumer experiences, and environmental impacts. It was stated the EPA’s dicamba review will
be complete in 2023. With the
sensitivity of dicamba in the ag marketplace due to spray drift and volatility onto
susceptible crops, the verdict on re-registration will be highly anticipated.
It is interesting to note that the EPA confirms that
post-emerge dicamba related incident reports had little change in 2021 versus
2020 despite additional measures implemented by the EPA in October of 2020 (requiring
addition of Volatility Reduction Agent – VRA, national cut-off date of June 30
application in soybeans, and enhancing buffer zones around listed species). Incident reports were quantified by number of
complaints, severity of injury, and geographic location.
Public comment is open until Oct. 17, 2022, and can be
submitted at the first link below.
Having constructive positive input from farm managers, ag-retailers, and
crop consultants across the landscape is always highly beneficial and
influential to EPA decision makers.
https://www.regulations.gov/docket/EPA-HQ-OPP-2016-0223/document?sortBy=postedDate
https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2022/08/18/epa-reviewing...
https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/epa-makes-draft-risk-assessments-available-dicamba-next-step...
https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-2020-dicamba-registration-decision
Grain Bin
Safety and the Grain Weevil Robot
As the small grain harvest has commenced for most farm operations,
it’s pertinent to stress the safety of moving grain in the autumn months. The University of Minnesota provides a timely
article with these reminders:
https://extension.umn.edu/farm-safety/grain-bin-safety
·
It will take only 20 seconds for flowing grain
to fully engulf an adult person
·
Most engulfments (about 80%) occur with the
person inside a bin with grain unloading equipment running. Engulfments can also occur in semi-trucks,
grain wagons, rail cars, or any other device that unloads from the bottom
·
Employers should provide training and an
emergency rescue plan to all employees on the risk of moving grain and proper
safety procedures. Entering a grain bin
and or semi-truck hopper should be a last resort
·
If the decision is made to enter a storage area,
instruct any and all farm labor workers to communicate their actions to
supervisors and to team-up with at least one other partner if/when entering a
bin or semi-truck hopper. At least one teammate
should remain outside the bin in a safe area and able to receive and relay
communications from inside the bin/hopper
·
Especially in the case of spoiled grain that
bridges or creates a vertical wall inside the bin or hopper, utilize a body
harness and anchored safety line to prevent engulfment
·
Utilize technology to monitor stored grain to maintain
quality and flowability.
When it comes to technology, a new gadget that is making it’s
way onto the market is the Grain Weevil robot.
This robot is designed to be physically placed into the bin and it’s
auger propulsion system keeps grain flowing to prevent grain crusts and peaks. From what I gather on the website, it’s still
in the demonstration phase with commercial prototypes available soon for anyone managing stored grain.
https://www.grainweevil.com/videos
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