Cultivating makes you feel like a Farmer

[BA Deere]

What`s he spraying, Banvel?   🙂

[ECIN]

You got it BA - Heck - I can't be as bad as the NEW stuff - with NO drift ! LMAO

[Blacksandfarmer]

Nice picture BA! I wish I had a row cultivator this year. We raise all NON-GMO corn for a large NON-GMO chicken outfit for a premium. This year I had my custom spray applicator spray Capreno and Atrazine early post emerge. My spray program worked well everywhere except one field. The foxtail turned a bleached out green color but didn't die off. I have no rescue, and I really don't know anybody reliable with a row cultivator. I may end up going back to GMO corn next year, not sure the 20 cent premium is worth lost yield. 

[ECIN]

BSF - How tall is your corn ??

[BA Deere]

Hey Blacksand, I raise non-GM corn without a premium, but rather the cheaper seed costs.  The coop has a program of Corvus, Atrazine and I forget what else, but it`s guaranteed or they`ll respray for free.  It`s spendy about $35/a but as always with that program, I am happy.   The thing is, since it`s their program I have to buy their high priced chemicals and they apply it over the top after planting with 28% ...well then they have to put on their damned Nutrisphere, $10 extra there, since it can`t be worked in.  But I`m happy, that`s the main thing  🙂

With the beans I cultivated, they really perked up by getting arriated, I don`t always have time to do it, but for all the crap Jim and Ken give me 🙂  I`m convinced it helps the yield and I knock out an escaped weed here and there.   I`ve looked on the web for data of cultivating improving yield but can`t find much other than blog spots claiming a arbitrary "10%" improvement, universities say it`s good, but no tests per sec.  The final "is it NAT approved?" 🙂 well many over there are rabid no-tillers and you can`t talk sense to them  🙂

[BA Deere]

Isn`t it funny Ken, we might talk about "old school" while we still have Atrazine as a part of our programs and tweeked Banvel...2,4-D, our grandpas we using those products in combination with....cultivating.  I was at the coop spray shed the other day and they had jugs of ...Cobra waiting to be picked up by a guy, that is your last "plan B" after it was sprayed 4 times.   

We need new chemistry!  Instead of all this playing God crap, manipulating plant genes so that old chemistry works in ways that differ from their original intent.

[Blacksandfarmer]

Most of the field is tasseling. About half of the field is my best corn and the other is my worst corn this year. I picked up the field to rent at the last minute, so I don't have a history of when it was limed. The only thing I can think of that could have went wrong was the grass size may have been just a little too tall for that herbicide. (about 3 inches) 

Lesson: Never go without a pre.

[sw363535]

Listening in on this one and I'll walk away with this thought.....................  I will be 66 this year..... and chem weed control is probably one of the 4 biggest improvements in my lifetime, but every chemical we talk about is very old in chemistry years.  

The last few years every idea that the consultants and chem reps come up with are just rehashes of old stuff.  Nothing new is being created???

example..... out here Kochia is tough ...... and in the drought it survives...  in 2011 and 2012 in hot drought it got well established.   So the agronomists got together and found a solution chemical to take care of it.  And the answer was........... dicamba in march on all milo and corn ground  two months pre plant when it emerges.  Now we have used dicamba and 24d for years to supress bindweed at 4-5 oz each along with gly.    But this "new" idea was 16-24+ oz. with another shot later.  every march.... "30 oz for some residual" was commonly said by agronomists.

Now our soybeans germinate with cupped leaves -------- a little exaggerated............... but the same agronomist is showing us how much better looking our dicamba beans are than the RR ones.......... and asking us to use more of the same chemical.

We can't grow an acre of beans without the signs of dicamba damage.  10 years ago the damage was just on one field or two.  Now it is everywhere....... even where it is protected from spray for a couple of miles.

[JimMeade]

With the internet, my guess is it may be a very hard row to hoe to get a new chemistry.  So easy for activists to get together and make a big stink.

Cover crops are going to be a sexy bust, I predict.

My conclusion is we need more crop rotation.  At least with precision machinery we should go to planting several crops in the same field and rotate them optimally.  Better, we need younger farmers and more livestock rotation.  We old men are in the road of weed control because we don't want to rotate livestock or cut weeds by hand.

[ECIN]

The last few years every idea that the consultants and chem reps come up with are just rehashes of old stuff.  Nothing new is being created???
 

sw - Here's my thought on this one - Yes - your right - But why ? My guess on this is that dollar for dollar - The chemical company's - which are also seed company's - have found that it is cheaper to change genetics to a proven herbicide than spend 150 million on a product that has a better chance to be a bust - remember back in the 70's - 80's ? it seemed that every year that there was a lot of new products coming out -  they may have been working on 20 ? 30 ? different compounds , .Yet Maybe - Maybe   - One made the cut - and it may have had a pretty short run - then is was done .

Then we have the EPA --- The guide lines - the testing - the proof - the data - it takes years - then it don't work

I'm surprised that they have not made a 4L soybean yet - : ))