WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The 2009 edition of the “Corn & Soybean Field Guide,” a pocket reference that covers corn and soybean production issues, is now available for sale.

The guide, created and distributed by Purdue University’s Crop Diagnostic Training and Research Center, is a handy resource for determining stages of plant development and identifying weeds, insects and plant diseases, as well as plant injury and deficiency symptoms. Center director Corey Gerber said pictures in the guide have been especially helpful to its users.

“The photos help identify types of pests, plant deficiencies and injuries, either related to herbicides or weather,” Gerber said. “The guide is small enough that people can take it to the field and use it as a source on the spot.”

The 2009 guide includes a few new items, including updated nitrogen recommendations and photos of early stage lesions for plant diseases on corn. Gerber said these photos would aid crop advisers, scouts and farmers in diagnosing issues early, allowing ample time to manage problems.

The guide is $6 and can be purchased online or by phone. To purchase online, go to http://www.extension.purdue.edu/store and search for product code ID-179. To order by phone, call (888) EXT-INFO (398-4636).

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Crop growers now have access to the 2008 variety trial yield results for corn and soybean varieties tested in Indiana.

“As with a lot of people, this year we had challenges, but the yields are much better than anticipated,” said Phil DeVillez, director of Purdue’s Crop Performance Program.

DeVillez and his team tested 240 corn hybrids at 12 sites and about 200 soybean hybrids at nine sites.

Yield data is available at the Purdue Crop Performance Program Web site, http://www.agry.purdue.edu/pcpp/. The variety trial results are free for farmers.

“The best thing a grower can do when contemplating varieties, is to compare this year’s data to last year’s data,” he said. “Always look at multi-year data.

“Something that was on top last year could be in the middle of the pack or even on the bottom this year, in terms of performance. It all depends on the planting date, growing season and the rain patterns.”

DeVillez said the past two years have been very different. If a variety is at the top in terms of performance both last year and this year, then you can feel confident about it being a good variety for the area.

For additional information and questions about how to interpret the data, contact DeVillez at (765) 583-1406 or pld@purdue.edu.

“We learned that good yields can still be achieved with late planting,” he said. “We replanted three of our locations (Butlerville, Shelburn and Vincennes) and probably should have replanted a fourth, but we just didn’t have enough time.

“We planted our plot here in West Lafayette May 29, which is a good month behind normal, so we didn’t expect yields to be very good on that plot. Our last planting date was June 12.”

DeVillez said the plot at the Purdue Agronomy Farm yielded more than 200 bushels of corn an acre. He attributes the surprisingly good yields to September’s warm weather, as well as improved genetics and the insect resistance with which they’ve been bred.

“If you look back, September was really warm and that helped us catch up in terms of growing degree days,” he said. “Because the crop was planted late and was still maturing, it worked out quite well, other than putting us behind for harvest.

“We didn’t start harvest until Oct. 1. Typically, we start sometime during the first week of September.”

DeVillez said the data is very representative of the state this year.

This also was the first year for the Farmer Nominated Variety Program, which is a partnership between the Indiana Soybean Alliance and Purdue Agronomy. This year, 16 soybean varieties were entered into the trials and DeVillez hopes to see that number grow next year. The program, designed to ensure producers have an objective source of information about the plant health and yield characteristics of individual soybean varieties, is funded by checkoff dollars.

“It basically allows farmers to have input about what varieties will be tested,” DeVillez said. “If you have a favorite variety that’s not included in the program because the company doesn’t participate or chooses not to put it in the test, then you can nominate it.”

For more information about the Farmer Nominated Variety Program, contact the Indiana Soybean Alliance at (800) 735-0195 or DeVillez.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — As rain-soaked soils begin to dry in Indiana, farmers with soybean acreage left to plant should now be planting mid-season soybean varieties, said a Purdue University expert.

“In general, total rainfall across the southern third of the state is running as much as 10 to 15 inches above normal for the year with extensive flooding,” said Purdue agronomist Ellsworth Christmas. “Soybean planting has obviously been delayed and has now been delayed long enough for farmers to consider changing maturity groups.”

But because mid-season soybean varieties tend to yield lower than full-season varieties, Christmas suggests planting a few extra.

“Seeding rates should be increased by 15 to 20 percent to promote shading, taller plants, and increased pod height and number of nodes per acre,” he said. “This will help offset the reduced yields caused by delayed planting.”

Planting later than normal does mean that farmers will be harvesting crops a little bit later, but Christmas said harvest shouldn’t be delayed the same amount of time as planting.

“Unlike corn, which requires a certain number of growing degree days to mature, soybeans are more sensitive to day length,” he said. “As the day length shortens later in the growing season, soybean maturity speeds up. In general, for each three days planting is delayed, harvest is delayed only one day.”

While there is still time for farmers to get their soybeans into the ground, Christmas warned that there does come a point when late becomes too late.

“A commonly used rule of thumb to stop planting soybeans is 90 days prior to the first 32 degree frost for a given area within the state,” Christmas said. “This means that the cutoff date for the Bluffton area in northeastern Indiana is June 30, while in the Lafayette area it is July 5. Soybean planting should cease in most of the southern half of Indiana by July 10, except for the southwest corner, where planting can occur up until July 15.”

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Even though planting soybeans earlier has been an increasing trend for growers, a Purdue University expert said this year’s delayed planting may be more beneficial than detrimental.

The abundance of rain that has washed over the Midwest has caused planting delays in many states. Indiana and Ohio have 19 percent and 21 percent, respectively, of the intended soybean crop planted, according to the latest report from U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Statistics Service. Combined, this means that nearly 7 million acres are not yet planted.

“But this late planting may be a blessing in disguise,” said Ellsworth Christmas, Purdue Extension soybean specialist. “Soybean seed quality is horrendous.

“Don’t get me wrong, there is some good quality seed, but an awful lot of it is just marginal. And that poor quality seed is at much greater risk to rot and disease, especially if it has to sit in the ground for several days.”

Purdue research shows that growers should plant soybeans between April 25 and May 10 to obtain the highest yield potential.

“We found that planting after May 10 leads to a 0.5 percent yield reduction per day,” said Andrew Robinson, an agronomy student who examined the relationship between planting dates and yield. “And, planting after early June results in a yield reduction of 1 percent to 1.5 percent per day.”

Robinson and Christmas agree that if this is the case, with new crop soybeans at $12 a bushel and an average yield of 50 bushels per acre, a 0.5 percent yield reduction per day is a loss of .25 bushels per acre per day or $3 per acre per day. For a 1,000-acre soybean farm, that’s a loss of $3,000 every day soybeans aren’t in the ground.

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