Cheap Plow-Down Clover???

If that Co-op guy would have just gone and sprayed them with a $15 per acre treatment of Lorsban it would have been okay. Grrr... I normally won't spray over something like that with my rig because my tractor and sprayer cause too much crop damage but I would have if I hadn't been told it was no big deal. He didn't realize they were sugar cane aphid, he thought they were just green aphids. Green aphids won't cause that much damage.

 

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I just was liking the last part of that post Covey, not the first.

IF it was "no big deal" tell him to make up the difference in what it was going to be worth and what it will be worth.

I totally agree with you on knowing your own crops.

 

Sure makes a person want to do that for sure. Problem is around here you have to know what fights to pick or the next time you need something done that you can't do yourself they just say they don't have time or worse yet tell you they'll be there tomorrow...for the next two weeks.
It was as much my fault as his, I knew the first day I saw them that it needed attention, after he looked at it and poo pooed it I should have told him to just go ahead and spray it anyway. My gut was screaming at me to get it sprayed and I ignored it after talking to the guy. I should have known after all these years that hired help errs on the side of wait and do it later when the owner errs on the side of caution. It just makes it that much more irritating that I didn't listen to my gut feeling in the first place. Well then it turned off wet and it couldn't have been sprayed four days after I talked to the guy and it's still too muddy to spray. The day or next day after discovering them was about the only window we had to spray, that's why I should have gotten it taken care of sooner rather than later.

I had to have it sprayed once for earworms pounding it and after they sprayed the insecticide took out all the beneficial predator insects so the aphids had a freeforall. I'd have probably been better off if I hadn't had it sprayed the first time. I think the predatory insects were doing a good job of keeping the aphid population in check until I had it sprayed for the earworm problem. Vicious cycle. I have another 30 acres of milo that wasn't fertilized at all, has some grass and weeds in it and is had about half the yield potential but it's been bug free all season. The neighbor to the aphid milo field had milo on three sides of that farm though last year. I imagine that's where the insect and aphid problem started for me this year but just a guess.

 

Definitely have to work with the neighbors every chance you can 'cause like it or not, everyone is all in this together. I spent many days under my fathers direction, pulling weeds on the neighbors fields so the seeds didn't end up in our fields.

 

I don't know that neighbor and he's a long distance operator. I don't know that he had an aphid problem last year for sure, I never walk his fields but I recall seeing a section of one of his fields last year that never filled out and I bet that's why. Those aphids are carried by wind though so we're going to have a continuous problem with them at any rate now that they're spreading across country. I'll either have to figure out a regular treatment for them or find a variety that's tolerant/resistant or stop growing milo. New problems are generally mostly a "problem" because they are new and we're not used to having to deal with it or don't know a course of action yet. It may turn out to not be a difficult problem once we figure out a good course of action. Guys in Texas and OK have been dealing with those for a few years now, they just spray a couple insecticides we've never had to use up here and know what to watch for and when to treat vs when it's not needed.

Live and learn I guess, I have insurance on it but it's unfortunate to have to use it that way and it doesn't pay out nearly as well as a good crop. I'm glad there is only 40 acres of it.

 

As they say, "don't cry over spilled milk," so your approach going ahead and planning on it so you can be prepared is definitely the way to go.



Now how about a "CHEAP PLOW DOWN CLOVER!"

 

I've learn the last few years about the spraying. The big guy gets first shot at it. The guy leasing our place would tell me for a week that they were going to spray tomorrow. I know whatcha mean.

If that 3pt sprayer would ever help let me know.

 

See post #3 on page #1.
If I were going to sow something cheap to fixate N and condition soil to be plowed down next season...rather than red clover I'd go with crimson clover or winter peas or winter lintels or maybe even hairy vetch as long as I could depend on myself to get it plowed under before it goes to seed (the vetch). Hairy vetch produces some hard seed that can persist and turn into a weed, for plots it probably wouldn't be that big a deal anyway. Vetch is supposed to be the top N producer and it is good forage. Personally around the crop fields I'd still go with the Crimson or peas or both. Crimson clover would be cheaper per acre than the peas.

 

Exactly why the coop doesn't step foot in our fields. Lorsban would have smoked the crap out of them but it sucks working with.

 

Have they lodged?

 

Covey,

If i frost seed Crimson clover, will i still get benefit to my soil if i plow it down in mid-July here in Northern Wisconsin?

 

That is one clover I've never frost seeded.....hmmmm....basically because some others I trust said its seed is not as cold tolerant and if germinates the colder spring temps will cause it to have stunted growth and N fixing. Covey any word either way?

 

A little bit just due to the heavy rain we got but it isn't bad and they are filled anyway.

I've never frost seeded crimson either, I always get it planted in the fall. You could plant it next spring or you could plant spring pea or spring lintels. If I were set on frost seeding something for plow down in july it'd be white or red clover.

I don't think the colder spring temps would be a concern after it germinates, I think if anything the seed wouldn't germinate as well as the harder seeded perennial clovers with it being frost seeded. You guys are further north than me, I can only testify to it's cold hardiness here where it has no problem dealing with our cold after it's established. It grows faster and fixates N faster than the perennial varieties because it's an annual but I don't think it would frost seed as well as the others. I think it would be fine if it was frost seeded right at the tail end of winter so the seed didn't lay exposed for long but I've not tried that personally. For the cost of one vs the other I wouldn't experiment with it if I had to rely on positive results.

 

I was in a lot of beans that were up to my chin this summer. I'm also 5'11". Everything here is a tangled mess, even the best standability varieties.

 

Yep, it's a mess when they get that tall and lodge. The last several years I grew non-GMO beans called Stoddard. They are a decent bean but they are very bad to lodge and do so while still trying to fill out. About any bean is going lodge to some degree if they get that tall. They'd have to have a hell of a stem in order to stay completely upright. Mine do have great stems this year and fantastic branching, that helps vs a skinny single stem.

I went back to RR beans this year mostly due to a matter of convenience. I didn't save back my seed from last year and didn't get another conventional non PVP variety found that was available to me. I intend to go back to conventional at first opportunity though. I hope to find one that has better standability than the last ones.

 

Another rainy week but we'll be combining beans (1.4-1.7) as soon as the weather allows and I'm curious to see some of the bean yields. I've been in a few fields that have had 4-5 pods per node up the entire plant on I would venture to say 80% of the plants. Then you go to the next field where you're lucky to see a double pod node. It was all about timing here this year; corn too.