I ended up attending the 2010 Crop Diagnostic School a week earlier than planned. There was a lot of stuff to see and learn. Here are some of the highlights.
- John Heard had his nutrient deficiency planters out again. One of them was a trick question – herbicide drift rather than a nutrient deficiency.
- The forage identification quiz was tough. I was lucky to be in a group that knew what they were doing. The forage identification chart seemed to require that you know the forage first, then use the chart to confirm.
- There was a herbicide forensics plot that had a number of different rows of crops seeded, then sprayed and you were supposed to identify the chemical by the the of damage done and the crops that were damaged. It was really neat.
- As always, John Gavloski had plenty of fascinating insect facts. Apparently pollination by honeybees increased sunflower seed yield by over 200%!
- Bent Reid tried to encourage those whose spring seeding was delayed by reminding us that a 3 day delay in seeding soybeans only delays harvest by 1 day.
- Martin Entz and Iris Vaisman encouraged farmers and consultants to look at organic crops for farm profitability. This year’s twist was a look at grazing of green manure crops. Putting sheep onto the green manure significantly reduced the cost of nitrogen for next year’s crop.
- One of the interesting facts I learned was that seeding rate does not affect alfalfa stands much beyond the first year. Once you have your minimum stand, and extra seed is wasted.
Learning lots at the Crop Diagnostic School
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