Farm News

Scout from the Cab

DuPont Pioneer Agronomists say harvest time is a great time to get a better perspective for scouting crop health and evaluating field conditions. Field Agronomist Kelli Bassett says the hours spent on the combine provide growers with an opportunity to pay close attention to field conditions. Bassett has spent numerous hours evaluating fields with growers and has suggestions about what to scout for from the combine cab. In the area of plant health – observe the consistency of ear size, stalk diameter, uniformity in plant size and emergence. As the combine passes through the field – Bassett says to not variations and consider probably causes. Bassett also suggests watching for stalks that are elbowing, lodging or kinked – as weakened stalks are signs of poor soil fertility, low nitrogen, stalk rot diseases or hybrid weakness. Bassett says stalk damage often isn’t severe enough to notice until harvest. The observation and yield data documented during harvest can allow for a better discussion of hybrid selection. Other things to watch for are yield consistency and insect damage. Keeping an eye out for insects – according to Bassett – will help the grower build an understanding of future control needs.

Bassett encourages growers to get the Pioneer Field360 Notes app on their tablet. Bassett says it’s a pretty slick application for scouting and note taking on the go. After harvest – growers can use Pioneer Field360 Select software to evaluate those notes and data from their yield monitor. The interactive field maps provided by the software show field boundaries layered with soil types and harvest maps to set the stage for 2014 planning.

Visit pioneer dot com (www.pioneer.com) for more information.

Growers Take Notes

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