Growing Soybeans by Thoughtwell Creative

Watch your crops grow stronger than ever before. The unique Vigor Trigger

effect of Cruiser Maxx Beans goes beyond insect and disease control, causing your plants to emerge faster, resulting in stronger plants and a higher return on your investment. Cruiser Maxx seed treatment also combines a powerful insecticide with two fungicides to protect your crop against early season disease, aphids and bean leaf beetle. So, be sure to ask for Cruiser Maxx Beans when ordering your soybeans and edible beans. ®

Beans

For further information, please contact our Customer Resource Centre at 1-87-SYNGENTA (1-877-964-3682) or visit SyngentaFarm.ca Always read and follow label directions. Cruiser Maxx® Beans, Vigor Trigger ®, the Alliance Frame, the Purpose Icon and the Syngenta logo are trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company. © 2011 Syngenta Crop Protection Canada, Inc.

ÂŠNorthStar Genetics Manitoba 2011

Get the cleanest fields in the fastest way possible this spring. Tank-mix glyphosate with HEAT® herbicide and you’ll get the most complete control from your pre-seed and chem-fallow applications. Learn more by visiting agsolutions.ca/heat or calling AgSolutions® Customer Care at

Always read and follow label directions.

AgSolutions is a registered trade-mark of BASF Corporation; HEAT and KIXOR are registered trade-marks, and the unique KIXOR symbol is a trade-mark of BASF SE; all used with permission by BASF Canada Inc. © 2011 BASF Canada Inc.

1-877-371-BASF (2273).

For the

Ultimate

Burndown.

Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’ Why most soybean fields are getting rolled By Cheryl Manness

he practice of land rolling soybeans has been gaining ground over the last several years, first in Canada, and then spreading into North Dakota and Minnesota.

“We roll to get rid of pesky rocks we call combine-killers, fist-sized rocks that can get through the stone traps. We do it for peace of mind at harvest; it allows us to focus on other things while on the combine, than searching for rocks.

Generally, rolling became popular as a means to level the ground for harvest by pushing down rocks and breaking down any soil clumps to ensure greater ease of pod pick-up with less risk to equipment.

“Our goal with rolling is to create a field that is as level as possible, tabletop level, so we roll to smooth out any ridges that are created by the planter,” says Pitura. “The fewer bumps and ridges, the less our flex header will jump during harvest.”

Alberta Agriculture recorded that three trials have been completed in Western Canada on land rolling of pulse crops (one in each of the provinces; however, none on soybeans). These trials determined some of the reasons behind the practice. The greatest reason for rolling being a faster, easier harvest. Rolled fields can reduce the risk of breakage to combine guards and sickles due to rocks, as well as easing the adjustment and operation of lifter fingers. Internal combine damage due to rocks may also be reduced. “We don’t really have a lot of stones, but we have a few,” says Ed Geisbrecht, of Giesbrecht Seed Farms in Plum Coolee, who rolled his fields for the first time last year. “Rolling pushes the stones into the ground so our flex header on the combine doesn’t pick them up. It increases harvest speed.” “It doesn’t matter what you plant with, whether you row crop or solid seed. The roller is used to level out the field, pushing down rocks and breaking down soil clumps,” says Giesbrecht. Cal Pitura of Pitura Seed Farms in Domain, Manitoba, has been rolling fields on and off for five years. 10

Pitura says that approximately 60 percent of bean fields in this area get rolled. “Some don’t want to powder their soil and some just don’t have many rocks to worry about,” suggests Pitura.

Rolling may also increase seed-to-soil contact resulting in enhanced germination. If conditions are very dry, rolling can improve emergence by conserving moisture. According to Pitura, rolling in his area isn’t usually done to improve seed-to-soil contact. “Beans do not like compacted soils. We also don’t roll when we have overly wet conditions. Sometimes when it is very wet we do damage by rolling because our soil is too easily compacted.” Alberta Agriculture recommends pre-emergent rolling for pulse crops as the preferred approach, as opposed to post emergent. However, according to the University of Minnesota Crop

News, rolling after the seed has been in the ground for more than a few days may be risky. In warm soil with adequate moisture, the germination process happens quickly and subjecting the germinated pre-emergent seeds to ground rolling increases the possibility of pushing the seed further into the ground, breaking the hypocotyl arch (the hook) below ground, increasing compaction of the planting layer, and soil crusting. Any or all of these factors could seriously impact stand establishment. “For us, our optimum time for rolling is one day after planting,” says Pitura. “We have about a four day window after planting. Once there is germination, we will not roll until post-emergence when the tri-foliates have appeared to minimize plant damage.” Giesbrecht agrees that the best time to roll the field is right after seeding before the plants emerge. “But if you have to roll after they emerge, it is best to do it on a warm, sunny day so the stems of the plants are more flexible,” says Giesbrecht.

As cautioned by Alberta Agriculture, if producers roll fields post emergence, rolling should be done during the heat of the day when the plants are slightly wilted and the soil surface is dry as opposed to cooler, dewy mornings when the plants will be more rigid and more prone to breakage and sticking to the roller. If rolling soybeans post emergence, North Dakota State University recommends the unifoliate stage because the plant will be able to recover more easily at this stage than at the first trifoliate stage. “This past fall we decided to pre-roll our fields. With a perfectly level field this coming spring, planting with our disc planter that doesn’t disturb the soil much, we shouldn’t need to re-roll post planting,” says Pitura. There may be some downsides to rolling, as well. “If we have a hard rain after the field has been rolled the rain is more likely to run off and not

penetrate the surface causing the field to become hard and crusted,” says Giesbrecht. “Rolling will also break down clumps of soil, as well as pushing down rocks, and in dry, windy conditions, the soil could blow.” Some of the concerns of Mahdi Al-Kaisi, Iowa State University Extension Soil Scientist, are the increased potential for soil compaction, surface runoff, and soil erosion. In his opinion, the big drums crush soil aggregates on the surface raising the risk of crusting, reducing water infiltration, and increasing the potential for soil surface compaction. However, with the drums weighing in at a packing force of less than 4 lbs/sq in, it is not much different than planter wheels. GS

Whichever way you go – it’s BioStacked ! ®

Nodulator® N/T soybean inoculants are BioStacked®. BioStacked® means greater plant vigour, root biomass and more nitrogen-fixing nodules on every plant. Which in turn means increased performance, superior Return-on-Investment and most importantly, added yield potential. Designed for increased crop performance under Manitoba growing conditions, Nodulator® brand inoculants are available in BioStacked® liquid and BioStacked® sterile peat formulations, or our unique Spherical Granules. Whichever way you go, Nodulator® inoculants are quite simply the best investment you can put into your beans.

www.nodulatornt.com

BioStacked® and Nodulator® are registered trademarks used under license by Becker Underwood Canada Ltd. The Becker Underwood logo is a trademark of Becker Underwood, Inc. and is licensed to Becker Underwood Canada Ltd.

Opening the Gates to Soybeans in Saskatchewan

HEADLINE® fungicide pushes crop production to new limits. With superior disease control and AgCelence™ benefits unique to HEADLINE, your crops are better able to grow efficiently, tolerate stress and reach their genetic yield potential. Visit your BASF retailer to see how you can achieve a high yielding, high quality crop with improved harvestability.

“In my fields, HEADLINE is king.”

Always read and follow label directions. HEADLINE is a registered trade-mark of BASF Corporation; AgCelence is a trade-mark of BASF SE; All used with permission by BASF Canada Inc. © 2012 BASF Canada Inc.

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