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Battle for the Belt: Episode 26

Episode 26 of Battle for the Belt is now available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lgnGd2oMUk

In Episode 26, Dr. Alyssa Essman the Ohio State Weeds Specialists walks us through the soybean plots at the farm science review. Dr. Essman demonstrates how to identify the difference between Palmer Amaranth and Waterhemp. For more information on late-season scouting to improve your herbicide program and weed identification please click here.

Battle For the Belt Location Updates

Corn at the Wooster location has reached R5 (dented stage) in planting date one. Planting date five at this location is beginning grain fill. At R1, corn uses the most water per day and decreases as the plant ages. Continuing to have rain until R5 is important for optimizing grain fill. This is also the case for planting date five at all three locations as none of them have reached R5 yet. The weather for the month of September will be important to fill out kernels at these locations. The soybeans at Wooster are all at R5 (beginning seed) at this point, though planting dates four and five are at an early R5, while planting dates one and two are close to full pod (R4). The soybeans in planting dates one and two had a poor population which has resulted in the plants developing many branches and pods.

The Northwest research station had soybeans enter R6 (full seed) while the corn was not at R6 (black layer) yet, but was all dented (R5 stage, Figure 3). Corn has shown great pollination and low disease pressure. The soybeans at this location have the most insect pressure from mostly grasshoppers and stinkbugs. At the end of the season, soybean plants will be harvested, and stinkbug damage will be evaluated.

Figure 1. Black layer on planting date one corn.        

The Western location hit R6 in both corn (maturity or black layer, Figure 1) and soybeans (full seed, Figure 2) at this location. The R6 stage in corn means these plants are senescing and have reached physiological maturity. At Western, the storms have brought more wind damage than other locations, as well as gray leaf spot. Both of these issues seem to be affected by planting date and hybrid. On the insect side, there does not appear to be much stinkbug pressure.

Figure 2. Northwest location soybeans. Planting date one through five from left to right.

The Northwest research station had soybeans enter R6 (full seed) while the corn was not at R6 (black layer) yet, but is all dented (R5 stage, Figure 3). Corn has shown great pollination and low disease pressure. The soybeans at this location have the most insect pressure from mostly grasshoppers and stinkbugs. At the end of the season, soybean plants will be harvested, and stinkbug damage will be evaluated.

Figure 3. Northwest location corn. The corn is in planting date in ascending order and the hybrids within the planting date are in ascending order. From left to right: 100 day, 107 day, 111 day, 115 day.

Table 1. Table 1. Planting dates one, two, three, four and five in the trial at all three locations with day of planting, soil, air temperature averages, and Growing Degree Days (GDDS). Information from CFAES Weather System, https://weather.cfaes.osu.edu/. Keep following the ‘Battle for the Belt’ this growing season to learn more and get further updates! You can find the full video playlist of Battle for the Belt on the Ohio State Agronomy YouTube channel.

Crop Observation and Recommendation Network

C.O.R.N. Newsletter is a summary of crop observations, related information, and appropriate recommendations for Ohio crop producers and industry. C.O.R.N. Newsletter is produced by the Ohio State University Extension Agronomy Team, state specialists at The Ohio State University and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC). C.O.R.N. Newsletter questions are directed to Extension and OARDC state specialists and associates at Ohio State.