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Buchheit I-55 Tech Park Field Day 2016
Buchheit, Inc. and Merschman Seeds were happy to have you to tour our soybean and corn plots. We had many varieties of corn and soybeans planted with different population rates, different seed treatments and different herbicide and fungicide treatments to showcase the options we have to offer you.
Our corn plots were fertilized with 300 lbs of 9-23-30 fertilizer along with 300 lbs. of ESN polymer-coated urea and 250 lbs of conventional urea treated with Agrotain, a volatilization inhibitor. All plots are No-Till. Our burndown program for corn was Degree Xtra Corn Herbicide and Roundup (Buccaneer). Our plan was to go back over the corn 2-3 weeks after planting and spray with Impact, MSO (methylated seed oil), Atrazine, and Roundup (Buccaneer), but due to rain we were unable to get back into the corn before it was too tall.
Our Corn Plots were planted on April 18th and gives a good representation of the major hybrids for our area. The “16” hybrids are the VT Double-Pro technology with the BT genes for corn borer and the Ear Worm gene to prevent damage to ear tips. The Triple-Pro technology is now available to you as well, but we have always felt that there is not enough rootworm pressure in our region to justify the $25-$35 per bag extra cost. This past year we were able to offer Triple-Pro technology at the same time as Double-Pro. If you really want protection from root worms, we feel that you need to plant the Smart Stax® technology that typically costs $70 to $80 per bag more. We also have plots with the Agri-Sure traits as well. We recommend the “RIB” (refuge in the bag) technology. This 5 percent inclusion of refuge corn reduces the need for a 20 percent refuge strip and keeps you in compliance with EPA.
Our corn plot has replications of most of the Merschman varieties that we recommend for our region. The nomenclature for the corn is as follows: the first two digits indicate the year of commercial release, the second two digits indicate the relative maturity (add 100 to the last two digits to get the relative day’s maturity). The Alpha letter indicates the genetic line and the last two digits indicate the trait technology package. Please refer to one of our seed catalogs or ask a representative to help explain our program: we are happy to help!
In 2013, we had corn yields ranging from 195 to 253 bushels per acre. In 2014, we had severe wind and hail damage on July 1st and saw a significant reduction in plot yields with a range of 130 to 170 bpa. In 2015, we had southern rust come into our corn around mid-August resulting in an approximate reduction in yields by around 30 bu. on average with a range in yields of 156 to 197 bpa. This year we are expecting yields in the 240-260 bpa range for many hybrids. In 2014, our North Corn Plots were focused on a Planting Depth Study and a Population study. We recommend a planting depth of 2.5 to 3.0 inches and the plots tend to bear this out. We had a $500.00 to $650.00 difference per acre in the planting depth plots in 2013! Don’t plant your corn too shallow, depth is critical! Genetic companies in general are recommending higher corn populations. We have population densities from 28,000 to 38,000 pants per acre. In 2013, 2014, and 2015 our top yielding populations were the 38,000 or 40,000 plots. This year we expect to have similar results.
Our north soybean plot showcases all Liberty Link varieties available to you and our south soybean plot is a population study. Our early burndown program was a mix of generic paraquat, Scepter, generic Dual, and generic metribuzin sprayed in mid-April. This offered good weed control until we planted the soybeans on May 20th. Post emerge (2 weeks later) soybeans were sprayed with Liberty, Prefix, Generic Select, Silencer, Fortix, and Triad. We strongly recommended 16-20 gallons of water per acre, flat-fan nozzles and slower travel speeds. The key to making Liberty programs work is adequate water volume and heat of the day application timing (temperatures in the upper 80’s to lo 90’s are recommended). Do not spray early or late in the day for best results. Additionally, we had another pass mid-July with Silencer, Fortix, and Triad. Fortix fungicide is known for its mobility within plants and has residual properties that provides extra protection to new growth. An additional trial we have on our plot is using Triad. Triad is a balanced hormone system that has 3 plant growth regulators. The main purpose of Triad is to help reduce stress in soybeans. We have a Triad trial that runs east/west of the population study on the south side of the test plot to see if Triad benefited our beans out here.
In 2013 we had soybean yields as high as 76 bushels per acre and our population study verified that planting 100,000 seeds per acre was enough to top the test! 40,000 soybean seeds (one third of a bag), per acre was enough to yield within 7 bushels of the best population! Results of the 2015 tech park harvest held true where 120,000 seeds per acre had comparable results to 140,000 or above.
Our soybean sales last year were over 85 percent Liberty Link and we expect this number to increase this year due to weed pressure. To illustrate the amount of weed pressure out there we have intentionally left a section of our plot on the south side of our population study free of any chemicals. There is quite the weed escape, which is why we have planted all Liberty beans. We want all of you to keep in mind the fact that this plot has had chemical applications every year for the last 4 years suppressing the weeds and these weeds are from no chemicals this year alone. Last year we had Roundup Ready soybeans in our plot that were full of weeds despite the application of Roundup twice. If you have a weed problem that is out of control despite the application of Roundup, Liberty Link genetics can be your solution.
In 2015 we had an Ilevo trial with varying results on the benefits of Ilevo. We have sold several thousand units of Ilevo treated seed. Most look great and to date, we see no signs of SDS (Sudden Death Syndrome). Our position is that if you have a problem with sudden death, Ilevo provides technology to consider.
With the appearance of a multitude of resistant weeds we have seen many areas of the Agricultural Industry returning to the use of some past chemistries. As part of the weed management trial in soybeans, Buchheit Agriculture has brought back a broad-spectrum chemical that can be pre-plant incorporated all the way through to post-emergence application over the top. Scepter 70 DG received its patents back in 1989 and has been used throughout the agricultural industry and in particular, areas with severe giant ragweed pressure. We used three usage rates of 1.4 oz, 2.1 oz, and 2.8 oz with Roundup and generic metolachlor in our pre-plant burndown with very good results. The acres were clean for planting and remained clean for several weeks following planting. We also used 2.8 oz of Scepter with 29 oz of Liberty on another area of the plot that only had Roundup and generic metolachlor with very similar results. All of the beans in the plot had post-emergent applications of Liberty herbicide. All of the Scepter trials are duplicated throughout the plot showing consistent results. Based on our trial findings, Buchheit Agriculture would recommend the incorporation of Scepter 70 DG into your chemical rotation. Make sure you continue to use full use rates, pre-emergent herbicides, and rotate through multiple chemistries maintaining multiple modes of action. ∆
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