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Farmers tour McLennan Co. crops |
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By JULIET BRISKIN | Central Texas Edition |
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July 4, 2002 -- Crop tours are one way producers can learn about the latest innovations and products available to them, as well as what will come available in the near future. On June 28, farmer and ranchers from across McLennan County participated in the McLennan County Crops Tour. On the tour participants visited four fields in locations throughout the county. At the first stop, the Kutscherousky farm outside Elm Mott, Marty Jungman of the Texas Cooperative Extension Service provided the group with an update on the Boll Weevil Eradication Program. According to Jungman the program that is currently in place in the Northern Blackland area costs $13.25 per acre, per year with a ten year projected payout. "Look for a referendum vote some where around the latter part of November or the beginning of December," said Jungman. "Producers and landlords will actually vote on boll weevil eradication and what its going to take for approval is greater than 50 percent of the acres or a two-thirds majority vote." Following the stop at the Kutscherousky farm participants headed out to the Jarosek farm to view a Roundup Ready corn hybrid trial and for an update on Bt corn for rootworm and Roundup Ready technology. Rootworm-control corn is created by splicing a gene from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a family of soil bacteria that produces toxins fatal to many pests, but not to humans, in to the corn seed. Dr. Roy Parker, Extension entomologist, explained that Bt corn for rootworm is designed to control the Mexican corn rootworm that is found in fields where the corn is not rotated. Parker stated that in a recent study an untreated field had about a 30 bushel per acre loss in yield due to the rootworm. "The genetically modified materials in the test were the only green things standing after about 11a.m.," he said. Dr. Paul Bauman provided the update on corn Roundup Ready technology. "The only thing holding this back is the development of enough varieties to give us a wide selection of maturities," he stated. "From a weed control standpoint the Roundup Ready technologies have been some of the most impressive that we have had to work with." Bauman explained that when the Roundup Ready products are used properly there is "really not much that they don't pick up." He continued by stating that when sunflowers, johnsongrass and most annual grasses are present at application time producers will experience good control with the Roundup Ready products. "We have a window of opportunity to use Roundup Ready products in Roundup Ready corn," explained Bauman. "This is up to 30-inch stage of growth or eight leaves." According to Bauman one of the more troublesome weeds that he sees entering into McLennan County is sharp-pod morning glory. "What we are talking about here is a perennial morning glory species that is much more difficult to control than our annuals," he stated. "From a Roundup Ready technology standpoint you have got to plan on going in with at least a couple of applications." The third stop on the tour was the Huffman farm followed by the Westerfeld farm. At the Westerfeld farm the topic switched from corn to sorghum. Bauman explained that the most important thing from a sorghum standpoint regarding weed management is that "we don't have near the tools that we have for most other crops." He explained that if a sorghum grower has a grass or pig weed problem they must go in with a pre-emergence, preventative type herbicide program. "As far as new developments in sorghum the only one that is of only real value is Aim," he said. "It can be used over the top of sorghum to burn out morning-glory vines, but it is strictly a burn down and does not give you any root control. One thing I can tell you is that once you apply the Aim, leave the field and don't return for about a week or ten days because it will scorch the sorghum a bit and make you pretty nervous." Bauman went on to explain that the sorghum does come out of it without any influence on the yield. Dr. Travis Miller with the Texas Cooperative Extension Service discussed statewide efforts in drought preparedness and management. "I look at a lot of production operations around here and I see some things that we could change to better withstand drought," he said. "If I could affect one thing it would be how we till." Miller stated that it is important to leave residue on the surface to help reduce evaporation and allow the field to go into a growing season with a higher amount of stored moisture. "Conservation tillage makes a huge difference in drought management," he said. "There are a number of ways to manage the residue to reduce the rate of runoff from a field so I'm not suggesting a no till, just conservation tillage." The final speaker of the day, Dr. Monty Dozier, Extension water resources specialist, addressed the impacts of applying poultry litter to cropland and rangeland. According to Dozier he is conducting a study in conjunction with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service. "We have applied poultry litter on pasture land and tilled areas," he said. "It is about four percent nitrogen and three percent phosphorous and we have applied up to six tons per acre." Prior to putting out the litter, Dozier stated that the average phosphorous across all the plots was .5 parts per million coming off the fields in a natural rainfall event. "After we applied the material it only increased the loss of phosphorous by one half a part per million," he explained. "By incorporating the litter we were able to reduce the amount of phosphorous coming off the surface by about fifty percent." |
