Ferrie: Dry Wet Beans, Make Better Strips, Stop Gas Escapes
A lot of wet soybeans went into bins last week in Illinois, says Ken Ferrie. If that was your situation, he says to be sure to knock down high moisture levels before taking those beans to the elevator.
“Don’t let those beans go out of condition. Find that right combination of when to run the fans and the heat,” encourages Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting Inc., Heyworth, Ill.
You’ll need to evaluate the equilibrium moisture content (EMC) to accomplish that. Ferrie recommends using the Clemson EMC calculator from Clemson University for that purpose.
“You can plug in your zip code, and and it'll take your forecast and help predict the EMC basically on an hour basis for a week out,” Ferrie says. “So that'll help you know when you can run your fans, when to shut them off or when to turn on the heat.”
Here is a link to the Clemson EMC Calculator: https://bit.ly/3wQIgMu
Preparation Underway for 2022
Ferrie says if you’re applying anhydrous now, make sure trenches are sealing and not releasing gas.
“If the bar is smoking at the knife or smoking in the slot behind it, tap the brakes,” he says. “This stuff is too expensive to let off. I know you want to check the box and get it done, but let’s not screw up next year’s crop in the process.”
Strip-till bars are running in a lot of areas, as farmers finish up harvesting soybeans. In this situation, Ferrie says to keep in mind that you’re building next year’s seedbed.
“Some of the strips that I looked at this week, I could stick my hand down the knife slot 6” to 7” deep. These will not overwinter and make a good seedbed.” Ferrie says. “You'll end up with air pockets and false bottoms in the seed trench, causing seed to get too deep.
Consider Your Options
“We have found shallowing up the knife will help if you're not applying anhydrous at the same time,” Ferrie adds. “But you’ve got to get that gas to seal. You can't let it get away. In some of these fields, we may have to make the call to put on the gas and forego the strip or build the best strip possible and forego the gas or wait for better conditions.”
Even with shallowing up the knives or taking the knives off, Ferrie says strip passes are coming up chunky due to the wet harvest.
“Next spring you may need some help with something like a furrow freshener or row freshener to get the seedbed you're looking for,” he says. “It may be time to come up with Plan B. I always recommend that our strip-till growers have a plan B for years just like this, when good strips are hard to come by.”
Even for growers who decide to go no-till next spring, Ferrie says be aware that you’re likely to have combine and grain-cart tracks in fields that will make for poor seedbed conditions.
“You may need some spring fresheners run on fields before planting or some sort of vertical tillage to get a uniform stand,” he says. “This is not an issue for you guys using horizontal tillage out of the planter, you'll build your seedbed then. But for the large percentage of you guys that are farming vertical, a uniform seedbed starts this fall.”
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