Herbicide Resistant Weeds

South East Farm Press recently published an article about the damage herbicide resistant weeds can do.  A four year study by Weed Science shows how devastating a single herbicide resistant weed can be to a crop field.

The research covered fours years and four different fields of cotton in Arkansas.  In the study, 20,000 seeds of glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth was released into a field and untreated and allowed to escape.

In one of the fields there was a total crop failure.  This shows the need for a zero-tolerance threshold when it comes to weed management.

Seeds can be spread by wind, water, animals and humans.  Seeds such as palmer amaranth can float on top of water causing it to spread rapidly in a field.  Palmer amaranth has prolific seed production rate, rapid dispersal and high competitiveness with crops making it very difficult to control.

In the Arkansas study, only glyphosate herbicide was used.  In the first season, a patch of Palmer amaranth grew 375 feet from the original planting location.  In the second season, the weed reached the field boundaries and infested 20 percent of the field area causing a significant yield decline.  By the third season, the weed had completely covered the field, making it impossible to plant any cotton.

This study easily shows how using only one form of herbicide can be ineffective when it comes to defending your farm from weeds, especially Palmer amaranth.  It also shows the need to keep all resistant weeds in a controlled area.  Weed control based on an economic threshold does not adequately consider the soil seed bank and the risk for herbicide resistance.

Waiting for Proper Time to Irrigate

With seemingly abundant water supplies in the five Delta states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee, many can't understand why anyone would ever have to irrigate.  Crop histories show that at some point in every season irrigation would pay dividends in the five state area.

Recently Jason Krutz, irrigation specialist with Mississippi State University, took an ag editor from Delta Farm Press on a tour to educate about water issues facing the Mississippi Delta.  He discussed how the use of flow meters, moisture sensors, and surge valves have helped farmers grow the same, and sometimes, more crops with less water.

Krutz and several members of the Mississippi Sustainable Water Resources Task Force stopped at a field operated by Tim Clements near Leleand, MS.  They demonstrated how the new technology could one day help farmers alter the current situation in which Delta farmers are removing more water from the alluvial aquifer than it is taking in.

Corn Looking to Rebound

After having a rough May and June grain futures are trying to rebound on the heels of last Friday's modest gains.  Heavy rain in the Northwest of the Corn Belt could end up doing more harm than good.  However, Kansas City futures show strength that could trigger a short covering rally.  Otherwise, the saying of "rain makes grain" is being put to the test.

Farm Futures Senior Editor Bryce Knorr talks about the market with Robert Hahn, Valley News Live TV, Fargo.

To hear the interview click here and scroll down to the bottom of the article to find the audio link.

Sugarcane Aphids Heading North

It's been 80 years since the Midwest has experienced a pest problem like it may experience this year.  The sugarcane aphid has mostly been in Texas along the gulf coast and Louisiana.  However, they appear to be heading north.

What does a sugarcane aphid do?  They can damage a plant in numerous ways.  They can thin out a sorghum plant until it reaches reproductive stage.  The aphid then chews on the panicles, resulting in decreased grain weight and a loss in yields.  Aphids also secrete honeydew which covers the mature plant causing a sticky and messy harvest.

Mike Brewer, field crops entomologist with Texas A&M AgriLife in Corpus Christi, says in an article by Agriculture.com damage from sugarcane aphids on sorghum plants topped $50 million in damages last year.  As they spread that damage will only get worse.

"I think it is a good expectation that severity would increase.  The worst case scenario is that up to 50% of fields could be infected.  Assume 50% yield loss, based on what we know from earlier aphid infestations, and we could have $400 million economic loss statewide," Brewer said at a meeting in Corpus Christi in January.

Sugarcane aphids reproduce in the spring.  They are able to breed two to seven days after birth, laying as many as 20 nymphs per cycle.

Brewer said, "Within 6 weeks of the first winged aphid landing on the plants, you will see sooty mold and honeydew.  The plant begins giving out.  On the positive end it takes a lot of aphids before the plant succumbs to aphids sucking fluid out of the plant."

In an interview with Kansas State University's Radio Network, J.P. Michaud, Extension entomologist at K-State, says sugarcane aphids are expected to be in Kansas and Nebraska this year.  "We can be fairly sure we will have some migrants arrive here at some time, but we don't know how well they will survive," he says.

Michaud encourages sorghum growers to pay extra attention to their crop this year.  "They are noticeable because they have very short, black tailpipes on a very pale nymph," he explains.  "They colonize first on the underside of the lower leaves, and move up the plant as the leaves die.  It's a very similar feeding pattern to greenbugs."

There are no insecticides labled for sugarcane aphids on sorghum plants.  However, some exceptions have been made in Louisiana and Texas in extreme conditions.  

Michaud says lady beetles could help suppress that aphid infestation but that may take a few years.  "It may be advisable to leave small areas of fields unsprayed in order to let first responders evolve into natural control," he points out.  

Sugarcane Aphid Causing Problems

Since the fall of 2013 farmers in South Texas and North Texas along the coast farmers have noticed a new pest moving in.  The pest has been identified as a sugarcane aphid variety, but the typical yellow sugarcane aphid common in southern states.

By last years harvest that aphid population had exploded and deposited large amounts of honeydew on the sorghum crop causing a nightmare for farmers.

IPM specialist warned the aphid may have survived the winter and come back much stronger in the spring.  Early reports are suggesting the population is currently growing at an alarming rate.

The best defense against any new pest is a coordinated scouting defense.  Dr. Mike Brewer, a Texas AgriLife entomologist, laid out a scouting strategy to growers in Corpus Christi during a meeting to discuss the problem.  South West Farm Press was in attendance and shot a video of it.  Click here for part 1 and here for part 2 of the video.

For more information on sugarcane ahphids, read this Sorghum University paper.

How to Feed 9 Billion People

This is your challenge.  In 30 years you're going to have to feed 9 billion people with less land and less water.  How do you do that?

To do this, farmers will have to use the best technology available.  Including some that isn't entirely popular with the public.

South West Farm Press recently covered a event featuring speakers discussing this very topic.  The most important thing is communication with the public.  The event was the Rolling Plains Spring Field Day held at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research station near Chillicothe.  The event featured Julie Borlaug, granddaughter of the late Dr. Norman Borlaug, a Noble Peace Prize laureate known internationally as the "Father of the Green Revolution."

As well as speaking she moderated a wheat seed industry panel consisting of: Jon Rich with AgriPro-Syngenta in Junction City, KS; Marla Barnett with Limagrain Cereal Seeds in Wichita, KS; Sid Perry with WestBred-Monsanto in Filer, ID; and Janet Lewis with Bayer CropScience in Lincoln, NE.

March 25th was my grandfathers' birthday and many people have asked me if he was here today what would his message be about how we are going to feed 9 billion people by 2050," Borlaug said.  "I think he would probably tell you there are three areas we need to be concerned about."

Involve the Next Generation

"It's important for us to continue to train the next generation of agricultural scientist," Borlaug said.  "We need to engage students; we need engage those even outside of agriculture, because it's going to take people from various backgrounds across different disciplines to help figure out how to feed 9 billion people."

This will require new economic and political policies, advancements in engineering, medicine energy, but mostly agriculture.

We need what her grandfather called "hunger fighters."  Entrepreneurs, scientist, researchers, policy makers and farmers.

They need to embrace bold new ideas and work with people along different disciplines.  They must engage smallhold farmers and private and public sectors to come up with sustainable ideas.

"So we need to continue to reinvest in that and move our generation forward, so they will become the next Norm Borlaug and leaders in agriculture," she said.

Funding Dilema

"We need to re-engage the funding entities and those outside of agriculture to understand why their support is so important," Borlaug said.  "We are going to need a lot of technology and improvements to feed 9 billion people, especially with climate change and scarce natural resources."

The third thing she stressed is - "the misunderstanding and misinformation that's spread about agriculture."  She said that mainly comes from the anti-science, anti-GMO groups who don't understand the basic role of biotechnology in agriculture.

Borlaug said her grandfather was known to say "fear of change is the greatest obstacle to progress."

The ag sector must address the public differently.  People need to understand how important new technology, innovation and biotechnology are to our future.

"It is no longer enough to just have collective support of the research and private sector.  We must gain the support of the general public in order to move agriculture research forward."

Most arguments against these advancements are emotional and not rational.  They resonate because they fuel the anti-corporate mentality.

She brings up the GMO golden rice crop in the Philippines.  "Do you as biotech opponents really want to deny golden rice to those children who could so profoundly benefit?  Are you willing to condemn them to blindness and death out of your own ignorance?  I say out of your opposition, you are somewhat responsible for their vitamin A deficiency and blindness."

This is not to say biotechnology is the only solution.  "but we must understand that a multi-faceted integrated solution is needed."

Wheat Breeding

Wheat is the most important food crop in the world.  It's time to reinvest time and energy into the crop.  

"What's happened over the years is that in the U.S., wheat has not been looked upon as a high staple crop like corn and soybeans," Rich said.

There is a lower cost of molecular markers and the ability to "speed breed" to bring greater yields.  

"I think it has been largely customer-driven - seedsmen and farmer driven," Barnett said.  "We've seen the demand for wheat yields to be increased.  Farmers have long been asking, "Why am I still getting the same wheat yields my grandfather got while my corn yields have tripled?"

The industry has learned a lot from corn, soybeans, cotton and canola that can be applied to wheat.

GM Wheat?

Right now there is no GMO wheat on the market.  However, acceptance will be necessary the panel suggested.

"Most people don't know what GMO means; they don't know that GMO is a technique, a tool that can be used in the breeding toolbox," Lewis said.  "There is a lot of confusion on what GMO is, and it has been a slow process of education for the general public.  There is a perception issue."

The breeders agreed it is important to look into GMO and non-GMO solutions.  And if there is a non-GMO answer then that's the route to peruse because it's cheaper.  They also agreed research needs to be done on nitrogen use efficiency, heat tolerance and water use efficiency.

"We have a skeptical public, which is okay; but we also have a gullible public, which is discouraging," Perry said.  "They are willing to accept the popular view on something rather than scientific research.  So take every opportunity to educate the people around you."

GMO acceptance is more likely to come with food safety.

"It's an emotional issue to a lot of people, and an education issue," he said.  "We need to educate the people on what GMO traits can do and how we feed people correctly.  We can reduce the amount of pesticides; we can reduce the amount of nitrogen we put in the soil; we can reduce the amount of irrigation we have to apply to get those maximum yields."

In the end, the most important thing to the public will be the pocket book.  We need to make a loaf of bread cheaper and the production cheaper for the farmer.

"It's a real luxury here in the U.S. as long as our bellies are full and food is cheap, we can complain about having GMOs in our products," Perry said.  "But that is a real disservice to others in the world who don't have that luxury.  I don't know how we can get that across to our public; a lot of it is in their hands."

Could Sorghum be the Next Bioenergy Crop?

Sweet and biomass sorghum and sweet sorghum juice sugars could be the next source of of bio fuel production.

A collaborative study was done and found a significant increase in ethanol production from a combination of sweet sorghum juice and corn mash.  Sorghum Checkoff made the announcement in collaboration with  the National Corn-To-Ethanol Research Center at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.

The study evaluated the levels of ethanol yields under conditions similar to what fuel ethanol industries use.  Sorghum sugar juice proved to be a successful replacement for processed water.  This could lead to an increase in corn ethanol production.

In a separate study, they found sweet and biomass sorghum would meet the need for next generation bio fuels that would environmentally sustainable.

Scientist from Purdue, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Illinois and Cornell University conducted the study.  In a report published in Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining, researches believe sorghum can benefit from the rail system, grain elevators and corn ethanol processing facilities already in place.

"The Midwest is uniquely poised to get the biorefining going on cellulose," reports Nick Caprita, a Purdue professor of botany and plant pathology, in a interview with South West Farm Press.  "As we move to different fuels beyond ethanol, the ethanol plants of today are equipped to take advantage of new bioenergy crops."

Sorghum could become a larger part of a national bioenergy plan.  Cliff Weil, a Purdue professor of agronomy, said some types of sorghum would require fewer inputs and could be grown on marginal lands.

"In the near future, we need a feedstock that's not corn," Weil reported.  "Sweet and biomass sorghum meet all the criteria.  They use less nitrogen, grow well and grow where other things don't grow."

One of the many advantages of sorghum is there would be less of a need for nitrogen.  Corn has been bred to produce a maximum amount of seed requiring a lot of nitrogen.  But sorghum could be genetically developed in a way to maximize cellulose, minimizes seeds and inputs.

"If you're just producing biomass and not seed, you don't need as much nitrogen," Caprita said.

Issues with Mineral Rights

You're sitting at home and there's a knock at the door.  It's an energy company wanting to buy your mineral rights.  What do you do?

With all the new issues coming up regarding energy mineral rights is becoming a major and new issue for some farmers depending on where they're located.

Despite the monetary gain a farmer could make there are environmental issues at stake.  Particularly oil/gas drilling.  And even more so with hydraulic fracturing (fracking) method of extracting natural gas.

In an interview by Delta Farm Press, James Isonhood, Mississippi assistant attorney general said, "There is a lot of misinformation about this."

Making a mineral rights deal is a very serious business he said.

"If someone knocks on your door offering to buy mineral rights, the first thing you need to do is find a lawyer who is knowledgeable about oil and gas mineral rights.  Don't use just any lawyer - be sure it's one who has knowledge of and is experience in dealing with the complicated issues in mineral rights."

Just because you own the land doesn't mean you own the mineral rights.  The mineral rights may have been sold separately many years ago.

"If someone owns the mineral rights for your property - dominate estate - they have an absolute right to recover those minerals," Isonhood says.  "If you own the mineral rights and sell or lease them to a gas company, that gives them dominate estate."

Determining who owns the mineral rights can be difficult.  "You may have to go all the way back to the original patent in the 1800's," He says.  If the property is inherited then the land would go to the heirs.  If not, then it would go to who ever it was sold to.

If their are several heirs to the property then things can get really complicated.  Have you ever had to get numerous people to make a decision?  It's like herding cats sometimes.

Stanley D. Ingram, an attorney in Jackson, Miss said there is no such thing as a "standard" oil and gas lease form.  "If there is one thing certain about today's oil and gas lease, it is that it's uncertain.  Every oil and gas lease is unique, requiring the utmost of the lawyer's review and interpretation."