Planting Progress in Brazil.

By Eduardo Paim:  

Good afternoon friend! Today it rained very well here in Mato Grosso! Surely we will accelerate soybean planting with this rain. It will not take the worry out of our thoughts if we are going to be slow to see another good rain like this, but we have to go and ask God to direct us. To this day there have been few rains and it rains in the living room and not in the kitchen. 

Many growers in the state of Paraná will have to replant because the rains were not enough to save the soybeans planted. In Mato Grosso there was delay for fear of planting and losing!
It's a little bit, but we need attention!

Heat in Brazil

By Eduardo Paim

I waited with good expectations to tell you about the start of our soy planting. It is not happening so far, the heat is very strong, far beyond what I remember. Our planting did not start well. Who is planting is risking a lot because the rains are irregular. I believe it will be a difficult year if the heat continues like this!

Managing Micro-Nutrients in Soybeans,

Written for IL SoyAdvisor,  

Are you paying enough attention to all the nutrients your crops need?

Byline: Dave Rahe

Topic: Nutrient Management

There are 18 essential nutrients [JF1] in plants: Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are the most likely to be added as fertilizer. Water, carbon and oxygen come from air and water. Calcium, magnesium and sulfur are needed in large amounts as well, and in Illinois we generally take what we get from nature.  Sulfur now commonly needs to be added along with the big 3. We add calcium and magnesium when we lime, although in Southern Illinois we generally come up short on magnesium in our liming materials. And micronutrients are also essential, but needed in smaller amounts. Boron, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, chlorine, molybdenum and cobalt are generally considered essential micronutrients and round out the 18. Some would add silicon to that list as well. 

The first step in getting your micronutrient levels in order is to get your soil pH right. Soil pH affects the availability of all plant nutrients, but in order to keep micronutrients available, pH needs to be in the sweet spot between 6.0 and 7.0. The chart above is from Michigan State University.

Once soil pH is corrected, the next step is to soil test for micronutrients. It is surprising how many people still say that testing is not needed for micronutrients. In the modern world, it costs very little to get the extra data. Another rub is, micronutrient testing is thought to be unreliable in determining a plant or yield response to soil test levels. My response is that you need to start somewhere. 

If you still want more data, I have found tissue sampling to be useful in determining whether micronutrient deficiencies exist. Last year, I had some soils with relatively low manganese test levels, but by tissue testing, I found that manganese wasn’t an issue. Tissue sampling in soybeans is done at R-1 or R-3 growth stages. North Central States has a publication on Managing Micro-Nutrients for Soybean Production in the North Central Region.

A few cautions are in order concerning tissue testing:

·        Time of day sampled can make a difference.

·        Sometimes dust on the plant can skew results.

·        Don’t test when the crop is stressed. Of course, it will show deficiencies, but the plants are unlikely to respond to treatment.

After collecting your data and determining you have a problem, what do you do about it? First off keep in mind that micronutrients can be toxic if over applied. Soybeans are especially sensitive to boron.  Copper can be toxic at as little as 10 ppm. I work on some soils where copper is over 100 ppm caused by industrial pollution, which is very difficult to manage.

Many researchers report that a blanket application of micronutrients without some indication they are needed isn’t economically wise. If treatments are needed during the growing season, foliar applications can be effective in treating symptoms. I have also found that soil applied micronutrients can be effective in treating low soil test levels. Sometimes soil test levels remain at desired levels for several years after treatment. I suspect we are stimulating microbes who will consume and then recycle micronutrients back into the soil. 

This leads to the question about biological treatments for micronutrients. One of the reasons that pH between 6 and 7 is so important is that it is ideal for microbial activity. But the big question is, can I improve micronutrient availability by using one of the new biological seed treatments? I think biological treatments can work, but it seems to be on a farm by farm and year by year basis, so if you want to try biologicals, you should also be prepared to do some strip trials to see what works on your farm.

There are also some farmers using silicon as a fertilizer. Silicon is one of the most abundant elements.  The building framework of our soils is alumno-silicate clays. There should be enough available in most soils, however some trials have shown a good response to fertilizer silicon. The downside is that we have little idea on response or economics and currently there is no soil test for available silica. To learn more about this element click Silicon Fertilizer Gaining Ground.  

In summary, micronutrient deficiency isn’t a common problem in soybean production, especially when pH is maintained between 6 and 7. Soil and tissue tests can be useful in identifying micronutrient issues, and microbial treatments may be useful as well. Finally, keep your eye on silicon as an emerging fertilizer. 

Soybean Yield Challenge 2019

The Illinois Soybean Association will be holding a webinar on April 4 to present the Illinois Soybean Yield Challenge for 2019.  The yield challenge is a good way to challenge yourself to test higher levels of inputs to see if you can beat your normal management practices and learn what your return on investment might be.  Register now for the webinar and tune in next week.

Planting Progress in Brazil

By Eduardo Paim

We are well advanced in planting soybeans in relation to previous years, here in Mato Grosso it is normal for the rains to end in May and only to return in October; This year God blessed us, we just had no rains in July and August. Soil moisture is considerably good, we in particular started planting summer pastures in early September (last year we started in December because of low soil moisture). Work with soy and corn planting is advanced in Mato Grosso, especially in the south of the state! Southern Brazil, in the states of Paraná, Rio Grande and Santa Catarina are having difficulties to develop planting due to excessive rains! This year's corn coheita was very good in Brazil in general! There is a lot of corn that the multi's have bought and not exported, now there is the possibility that this corn will be re-sold in the domestic market, if that happens we may have strong pressure on domestic prices down. Here we made the option to sell 80% of the corn and 100% of the soy using the high dollar due to the elections for president!

As it is happening many rains in the South of Brazil I believe that we can even have a year with EL-NIÑO!