Wheat Pete’s Word, Feb 10: Added growing season, vaccines, and all about brown gold

We know you’re just itching to get into the field, and there’s a light at the end of this tunnel! We’re starting to get more sunny days and that can provide 11 degrees of temperature difference, according to our curious host.

In this episode of Wheat Pete’s Word, Peter Johnson covers manure questions of all kinds, heat units in corn, and red clover.

Have a question you’d like Johnson to address or some yield results to send in? Disagree with something he’s said? Leave him a message at 1-888-746-3311, send him a tweet (@wheatpete), or email him at [email protected].

SUMMARY

  • Take the Johnson 15 minute challenge! Take 15 minutes and call someone you haven’t talked to in a while
  • What goes up must come down. Markets are pulling back. Did you price into the rally?
  • It’s hard to go broke making a profit
  • Light! The days are getting a smidge longer
  • Sunlight makes all the difference
  • Sweet corn growers wanted to know about the frost-free period and added heat units
  • An added 7 days of a season is tipped to the spring: 5 days in the beginning, only 2 days in the fall. So, still risk in the fall for Ontario
  • Quebec, though, 2 at the beginning and 2 at the end. Maybe the northern effect?
  • Alisa Craig, 3400 heat unit corn, and power it up, let’s see how far we can drive yields!
  • Dr. Peter Sikkema inducted into the Ontario Ag Hall of Fame
  • Vaccines: similar technology to GMO? Visit ASAP Science. Great video on the COVID-19 vaccine. Messenger RNA and it’s super cool. And yes, safe.
  • Manure and more manure!
  • Chicken manure on eight inches of snow. You’ve talked about ultra early seeding, does that mean I can spray on snow and get that job done? HA! When that snow melts, and that amazing N in the chicken manure is going to move with the snow. Which means off site, and willy nilly all over.
  • What a bit of frost or a bit of snow? What if it’s incorporated? Hey, if you incorporate ahead of rain it might be OK.
  • Bare, thawed soil is OK. Frozen soil is a big part of the issue.
  • Sand bedding? 50/50 liquid and sand. Assume 5,000 gallons per acre, spread consistently (remember sand doesn’t hold water), 50 applications needed to increase the top 6″ by 10 per cent sand. Could have some significant ramifications. Mix it in.
  • Is application really consistent? It’s a challenge to do a good job with sand bedding. There are soil ramifications.
  • Sheep manure with strip-till crops. Where do you put it? Put it on your hay ground, or incorporate in the st
  • Compost! Takes work and energy, and really does reduce the volume. If it’s close to home, raw is just fine.
  • 5,000 gallons of sulphur — 20 pounds of S but elemental form. Needs time to mineralize.
  • N credit to second year manure? 5 pounds per acre.

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