2004TFT5

2004, Issue #5

from your Pioneer Sales Representative: Kingston Feed & Farm

As March roles along, planting season is not far away. The recent trends in commodity prices have shone a much-needed ray of sunshine in terms of getting excited about 2004’s cropping year.

Enclosed you will find some program and agronomy information that I hope you will find useful.

Seed Needs

Please keep in mind that Pioneer has a good supply of Roundup Ready soybeans and corn, conventional, Bt and Bt + Roundup Ready corn hybrids, alfalfa and inoculant. I will have a good floor stock this spring to best meet your last minute seed requirements. Should we encounter another challenging spring for planting, please feel free to contact me for any hybrid switches you would like to make.

Although our best discounts were available earlier in the year, Pioneer has the industries best in-season discounts available for customers that still haven’t made their seed purchases for 2004. Purchases made between now and April 30^th, are eligible for cash savings of 3% or 2% for those looking at financing. In addition, these purchases will qualify for quantity savings!!

Hybrids to watch in 2004

Pioneer has over 30 new hybrids available to Canadian farmers in 2004!! Many of these new hybrids are technology conversions of base hybrids you are likely more familiar with. Whatever the technology, Pioneer has got you covered.

Pioneer also has some exciting new genetics you should keep your eye on in 2004.

39F59- Brand-new base genetics in the 2200 CHU maturity. Strong yield potential, good stalks and staygreen for early maturity. Position with 39T68

39F61- A Yieldgard Corn Borer conversion of 39F59. At 2650 CHU, this Bt hybrid has shown high yield potential, good stalks and staygreen for early maturity. Position with 39T70 and 39R34.

39F27- A new 2600 CHU conventional hybrid with very high grain and silage yields. Excellent staygreen and drought tolerance. Position with 39D81 and 39K40.

39F28- A Herculex1 Bt conversion of 39F27. At 2650 CHU this high yielding hybrid will companion with 39K41 and 39D82 nicely.

38W21-Very high yielding with solid agronomics in the 2700 CHU maturity. Strong roots, fast drydown and great test weight. Position with 38R69, 38R92 and 38G60

38W22- A Herculex1 Bt conversion of 38W21. High yielding, drydown and test weight. Position with 38G17 and 38W36

38B85- At 2850 CHU this hybrid will companion nicely with 38P05 and 38A24. Improved roots, stalks and yield for this maturity. Strong silage characteristics.

37A91-Conventional hybrid in the 2900 CHU maturity to companion with 38A24. Solid agronomics.

38A81-Roundup Ready technology incorporated into our leader base genetics 38A24. Excellent grain yields and great silage characteristics.

38H68-A Herculex1 Bt conversion of the impressive 38H67 base. At 3000 CHU, position this hybrid with 37R71 and 37F16.

37K84- This silage specific RR hybrid puts up a lot of tonnage with excellent whole plant digestibility and readily available energy… A silage Giant. Position with 37J99

90M20 - 2550 CHU bean with excellent yield potential. Multi-race Phytophthora resistance (Rps 1K). Solid harvest standability

90M20 - 2600 CHU top performing variety with key defensive traits. Multi-race Phytophthora resistance (Rps1c).

91M51 - 2850 CHU Top yields and solid disease resistance package. Above average white mould tolerance. Multi-race Phytophthora resistance (Rps 1k).

92M32 - 3050 CHU Excellent yielding variety. Multi-race Phytophthora resistance (Rps1k).

Poncho Seed Treatment

This spring will be the first chance North American farmers will have to evaluate the new insecticide seed treatment Poncho 250 and Poncho 1250. Pioneer still has a good selection of many hybrids treated with Poncho 250 for the control of wireworm, seed corn maggot, European chaffer, black cutworm, true white grub and flea beetle.

Anyone that pre-ordered seed treated with Poncho 1250, remember this seed cannot be carried over to next year due to impacts on germination so it MUST be planted in 2004.

Seed treated with Poncho is protected by the Upshot Early Season Protection Program. If you have any replants for any reason on your Poncho treated seed, you will receive a replant credit equal to 100% of the initial charge for the insecticide towards the replant product of choice.

DuPont will continue to offer their Risk Protection Benefit program in 2004. Growers must enroll for this program by April 30, 2004. Even if you’re not sure you will be using DuPont herbicides in 2004, it’s a good idea to get enrolled in this program. If 2004’s crop falls below ¾ of your average yield due to environmental perils, DuPont will reimburse a portion of your DuPont crop protection dollars as a voucher for the following year. Either your Pioneer dealer or your crop protection retailer can help with getting you enrolled in this year’s program.

Also available is an early purchase bonus of $3/acre on DuPont’s one-pass corn herbicides and $2/acre for straight Ultim and Accent for purchases made by April 30^th, 2004.

What hybrids did I purchase this spring? What is my total Pioneer purchase for 2004? What’s my deferred payment loan payoff amount?

We have the answers to these questions and more any time day or night on the Pioneer GrowingPoint website. As a Pioneer customer, you can now view your account activity for 2004 and upcoming planting seasons. Go online to see what Pioneer brand hybrids and varieties you purchased, see the charges and discounts you received and view the payments you have made. Deferred Payment customers will also have the convenience of viewing their current balance, last payment made and payoff information online as well. It’s convenient, it’s secure and it’s available now to help you better manage the sometimes complex area of seed invoices.

There are three easy steps you need to do to gain account access on the Pioneer GrowingPoint website (PGPweb):

· Because of Pioneer’s commitment to your security, you will need to use a one-time PIN to activate your account.

Also available at GrowingPoint.com is access to great market, weather, nutritional and animal health, and agronomic information.

AGRONOMY CORNER

If you have not already arranged for an on-farm comparison and are interested, please let me know. There are a lot of NEW hybrids, varieties and technologies to evaluate this year. Since I own my own weigh wagon, and have access to pad scales for silage plots, I can arrange weigh-offs at your convenience. Just ask for tips on how to make the layout, planting and harvesting of comparisons an easier job.

For those of you with yield monitors, you might want to consider looking at a split planter comparison in 2004. Please contact me for more information.

Dealing with Volunteer Corn

With last year’s standability problems in corn, you can bet we’ll have some challenges with volunteer corn in soybeans. In conventional beans, this can most easily be accomplished with the low rate of Assure II or Venture herbicide. Fields with Roundup Ready soybeans shouldn’t have any troubles unless of course those fields had Roundup Ready corn last year. Check field records and plan an appropriate tankmix for dealing with volunteer Roundup Ready corn.

The best method to scout for wireworms is to set up bait stations approximately three weeks before planting. Two bait stations should be placed in every high-risk area of the field. Construct a bait station by digging a hole 10 inches deep and approximately 6 to 8 inches wide. Place a few freshly cut potatoes into a loose mesh bag and place the bag in the hole. Loosely mound the soil over the bait station to prevent standing water and place a flag at its position.

Securing a dark piece of plastic over the mound will help to warm the bait station, increasing the fermentation of the potatoes, which will be more attractive to the wireworms. Return to the bait station a few days before planting, digging up the bag and examining its contents. If one or more wireworms are found per bait station, your corn is at risk from wireworm damage and would be great fields to evaluate insecticide seed treatments like Poncho 250.

If you don’t have time to scout this spring, fields meeting some or all of the following criteria should be considered for insecticide seed treatments like Poncho:

· Fields with areas of dense patches of weeds especially grassy (adult cutworm magnets in the spring)

· In the case of Poncho 1250, only a corn on corn rotation would warrant this rate.

With last fall delayed soybean harvest many winter wheat fields were planted late and quickly encountered cold, wet conditions shortly after planting and had limited fall growth heading into the winter. Adequate snowfall has given most wheat fields a good insulating blanket to protect it from some of this winters frigid temperatures. The next month will be critical in determining the survival of many fields. Patches of ice in wheat fields during the dead of winter do not damage the wheat crop for the most part because the crop is dormant. This assumes that the wheat plants are well rooted and the base of the crowns of the plants are properly placed at about one inch below the soil surface (importance of planting depth)

The damage comes when the ice melts, forming pools of standing water that partially or totally covers the plants. If the plants are dormant, standing water may have little or no negative effects. However, for plants no longer dormant, standing water pushes all the air out of the soil and deprives the root systems of the oxygen they must have to survive.

Begin to examine wheat fields in early spring as the time for green up approaches. Dig plants from the field, wash off all soil and examine the crowns. Peal the leaf sheaths down to expose the inner parts of the crown. The tissues in healthy plants should be a creamy white color. If the internal tissues are brown or discolored, then these plants are likely dead or will soon be dead. At this time you can also examine plants for soil heaving. Plants heaved out of the ground exposing the lower crown and roots will likely die by mid April. Assess your wheat fields during April and early May. Leave the replant decision at late as possible as favorable growing conditions in April can sometimes be enough to pull through damaged plants.

The following table is based on Ontario research done in 1986-1990 at Ridgetown College and University of Guelph and shows that even with plant stands well below the ideal 20/ft of row, you can still expect reasonable yield potential. Plants stand below 7-10 plants/ft of row, consider replanting. Growers must also take into consideration the evenness of the plant stand and planting date.

For later planted fields that had little growth opportunity in the fall and therefore little to no tillering, you will want to consider an early application of nitrogen to promote early tillering this spring. For fields planted in good time this past fall and achieved 2+ tillers, applications of nitrogen should be made by the end of April to the first week of May. When the growing point begins to come above the ground and leafs become erect, indicates the high Nitrogen demand time for winter wheat. Don’t short the plant during this phase!

Winter Survival/Replant Program

If Pioneer certified wheat seed does not survive the winter, we will provide, free of charge, corn or soybean seed for 25% of the affected acreage as long as the grower purchases the other 75% from Pioneer. No other company offers a replant benefit for wheat seed in Ontario!!

For corn, soybeans and canola, this replant program is extended to 50% of the affected acreage as long as the grower purchases the other 50% from Pioneer.

In the case of growers planting Poncho insecticide treated corn seed, any replants for any reason will receive a replant credit equal to 100% of the initial charge for the insecticide towards the replant product of choice.

For alfalfa, if a satisfactory stand is not established, Pioneer will provide replacement seed at 50% of the current price. You must contact me prior to Oct 1^st of the seeding year.

Please feel free to contact me with any potential replant situations you might have this spring.

The MeterMax System is designed for the testing, maintenance, and calibration of corn planters.

I am excited about the opportunity to be able to offer this service to you and it is only available through Pioneer. The MeterMax system works with JD Air planters, White Air planters and JD and Kinzie finger pickup planters. A trained technician using the MeterMax system will check your units for skips, doubles and triples in addition to accuracy per 1000 kernels, using the specific seed size that you have ordered. The intention of calibrating your planter is to produce evenly spaced plants or “picket fence corn” to maximize yield. Multiple year side by side comparisons have shown on average a 3 bu/acre yield advantage for corn planted with a MeterMax inspected planter. Please call for a quote.

In order to properly assess a forage stand you need to evaluate a field in several different locations. Assess the crown and root health by digging up several plants in the sample area. Check for any heaved crowns. Slightly heaved plants can survive but this will have an impact on their longevity and productivity. Any plants that have heaved to the point of breaking the taproot have little chance of surviving. Cut roots lengthwise and check for healthy cream to white colour. Healthy roots are critical for early spring growth to get the plants going.

The most accurate way to determine the yield potential of an alfalfa stand is to count the number of stems you have per square foot.

Unfortunately plants haven’t produced a lot of stems early in the spring when growers are trying to make replant decisions. Another method is to count the number of healthy plants you have per square foot. Provided are tables for both evaluation methods.

The soybean aphid was a very serious pest problem in some Ontario soybean fields in 2001 and 2003. Most of the problem fields were sprayed for this insect in late July or August, well after the soybean canopy had closed.

Getting through our fields without damaging the crop can be accomplished with the use of skip-row production systems. This practice has been used throughout Europe for 30 years where intense management of small grains necessitates several applications of pesticides and fertilizers during the growing season. Skip-row systems for soybeans consist of planting the field in narrow rows with repeating patterns of missing rows to allow space for the tires of application equipment. The skip-row system needed depends on the size of pesticide application equipment to be used. Systems can vary in width of the skips, distance between the individuals of a pair of skips, and the distance from one pair of skips to the next. Yield reductions due to skipped rows vary from as little as a few pounds of grain per acre, up to about a half-bushel per acre depending on the skip-row system used. Small equipment for planting and spraying necessitates more frequent pairs of skips and results in larger yield losses than larger planters and sprayers. As the number of skips per acre decreases, so does the associated yield loss.

Fortunately, most commercial sprayers have narrow tires such that only two rows are run down as the sprayer crosses a field planted in 7.5-inch rows. The following table shows the yield loss caused by different size sprayers assuming two rows are lost with each pass across the field and a potential yield of 50 bu/acre.

The yield and income losses in the table can be avoided with the use of skip rows. Numerous soybean row spacing studies indicate that for soybeans planted the first three weeks of May, the yield difference between 15-inch and 7.5-inch rows varies from no difference to about two bushels per acre depending on soil type, weather, and plant growth. Thus, leaving two rows unplanted with each pass of a 30 foot drill would cause a yield loss of only 4.2% of one bushel per acre which is worth $0.32 per acre. That very small loss is due to only 4.2% of the row middles are 15 inches wide. If the cost of seed per acre is $35.00, then the savings for not planting the two rows is $1.47, which more than offsets the yield loss due to leaving skip rows.

The bottom line is: Running down two rows with a 60 foot sprayer in August will cause a yield loss of $7.80 if soybeans are selling for $7.50 per bushel. Leaving two skip-rows with a 30-foot wide drill would increase profit by $1.15 per acre ($1.47 - $0.32). Therefore, using a skip-row

system would generate $8.95 more income per acre than destroying two rows of crop by spraying in August. The economics are very similar for high yield wheat.

Further information on skip row soybean production is available at the following web site.