Irrigation Management
CornSouth ONE GROWER PUBLISHING, LLC
Southern Production & Marketing Strategies
A Supplement to Cotton Farming and The Peanut Grower Magazines
March 2020
CornSouth Optimistic Forecast Each spring, economists from the University of Georgia Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics offer a forecast for the coming crop season with an emphasis on the major Amanda Huber commodities within Editor the state. UGA agricultural economist Adam Rabinowitz was a speaker on the 2020 Ag Forecast program. In anticipation of the event, Rabinowitz said predicting markets and providing an accurate account of the future is not an exact science; however, there are clues stakeholders can use to make the best possible decisions. “We are in a period of great uncertainty in agriculture with lasting depressed commodity prices, ongoing trade disputes and a continued recovery from natural disasters,” Rabinowitz said. “As a result of these challenges, it is of great importance that agricultural producers and agribusinesses plan for the upcoming growing season.” Another speaker, Georgia state economist Jeff Dorfman, said it is hard to improve on the historically low unemployment. However, the agricultural economy is heavily dependent on trade, which is affected by the economies in other countries. Several of the top U.S. trading partners are currently in recession. “We do a lot of international trade,” Dorfman said. “If the rest of the world is doing badly, that tends to slow the Georgia economy more than it does most other states.” For corn, Rabinowitz said prices are expected to increase and growers could expect between $4.48 and $4.52 per bushel. The trend of growing more corn, less wheat and less soybeans is expected to continue in 2020. Georgia corn production for grain in 2019 totaled 56 million bushels, an increase of 11.6% over 2018.
Market Situation
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exas A&M AgriLife Associate Professor and Extension Economist Mark Welch offers the following market information in his newsletter “Feed Grain Outlook.” U.S. corn exports face increasing competition from foreign producers. Corn producers in the Black Sea region of Ukraine and Russia have completed the 2019-2020 harvest on the same basic crop calendar as the United States. Harvest of first crop corn in Brazil is underway with Argentina soon to follow. Total production from these four countries is forecast to reach another record.
Grain Use
Corn export sales for mid-January were good at 40 million bushels. Sales reported the past two weeks have been above the 30 million-bushel threshold needed to reach the marketing year target of 1.77 billion. However, cumulative sales continue to lag with 45% of the marketing year total on the books in mid-January compared to 63% last year. Corn for feed use has been positive. The cattle on feed report showed numbers in lots of 1,000 head or more at 11.958 million head, up 2% compared to last year and 9% higher than the five-year average. The broiler hatchery report from Jan. 22 showed broiler chicks placed up 4% compared to last year and 5% above average. The Leading Economic Index for December was 111.2, down 0.3% from November and down 0.4% for the past three months. For December, five of the 10 components that make up the index increased, led by higher stock prices. The seasonal tendency of the December corn contract is to exhibit an upward price trend through the spring. After peaking in June, contract prices usually fall below the year’s average price by mid-July. That early season price strength is normally associated with acreage, yield and demand uncertainty.
Current Outlook: • Increasing competition from other countries. • Positive numbers in cattle and poultry. • Acres may increase slightly. • Trade deal with China may be positive, but many questions remain.
Marketing Plan
I have priced the first 10% of the 2020 corn crop at $4.10. That price covers total costs in my preliminary budgets, is higher than my first sales the past several years and is about all the market offered at the time. Since the signing of Phase 1 of the China trade deal Jan. 15, March corn futures have gone from $3.90 to $3.80 and soybeans from $9.40 to $9. Questions remain as to how and when China will follow through with promised increases in imports of agricultural goods. On the horizon for 2020 may be a significant increase in corn acres. If it bounces back to the level U.S. farmers intended to plant last year, it would be 92.8 million, up from 89.7 million reported in January 2019. If yields in 2020 average around 176 bushels per acre as in 2016 to 2018, production would be near record levels. Corn planting intentions in 2020 will be shaped by the relative price and profitability of soybeans. Resumption of exports to China would support the soybean market and influence the acres of both crops. Any speculation regarding exports is exacerbated by the rapidly spreading coronavirus and the impact it could have on economic activity in China and beyond. Market uncertainties are putting more downward pressure on early season prices at this point. CS
Corn South: Covering Southern Corn Production Corn South is a supplement to the Mid-South and Southeast versions of Cotton Farming magazine and to The Peanut Grower magazine for producers in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. To receive Corn South, visit www.CornSouth.com and click on “Subscribe to Corn South.” Send comments to Corn South, 875 W. Poplar Ave., Suite 23, Box 305, Collierville, TN 38017. You may also call 901-767-4020 or contact Lia Guthrie at lguthrie@onegrower.com or Amanda Huber at ahuber@onegrower.com.
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Irrigation Management
Tools To Save Water, Stay Profitable
Saving The Aquifer With Technology
Through a grant from the Southern region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Lacy and his colleagues are training Extension agents across the Delta to bring the technology to farmers. The goal is to stem the rapid decline of the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, the primary water source for corn, soybean and cotton farmers across the Delta. “The idea was to come up with irrigation techniques that demonstrate maintained or increased profits, while reducing water usage,” says Lacy. “The SARE grant allowed us to purchase the equipment needed by agents to get farmers on board with the irrigation management program.” For producers using furrow irrigation in the Delta region, management programs to promote more efficient water usage needed to be specially designed to fit that practice.
Sensors Tell What The Crop Needs
Humphreys County Extension agent Preston Aust says that the first step for farmers who are implementing the irrigation technology is to use Pipe Planner, a web-based application designed to achieve more uniform water application. “Pipe Planner will improve irrigation efficiency by adjusting the watering process based on the volume of water coming out of the pump relative to the size holes that need to be punched into the collapsible
PHOTO BY ELIZABETH JACK, SILENT SHADE PLANTING COMPANY
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ill Hart, a farmer who produces corn and soybeans on 3,000 acres in the Mississippi Delta, remembers the way his grandfather determined whether the crops needed water. “We’d go out in the field and kick the dirt,” Hart says. “If it was dry, then the crops got water.” Today, farmers in the Delta are more realistic with their irrigation management. Farmers like Hart use furrow irrigation with perforated collapsible poly tubing that is connected to water pumps with a timer to drive water between crop rows when needed. How much water does the crop need? How long will the irrigation run? Is the water reaching the plant roots, or is it just running off ? Hart is among 75% of farmers in the Delta who are now using a suite of irrigation management tools that answers those very questions. According to research from Mississippi State University, it’s saving farmers money by streamlining pumping time and reducing water use and inputs, while producing comparable or better crop yields. “The purpose of the technology is to make furrow irrigation as efficient as possible,” says MSU Extension professor Curt Lacy. “We’ve proven that we can save producers money and produce equivalent or increased yields. More and more farmers are realizing that it works.”
poly tubing,” Aust says. “If your volume of water is too high and you have too much head pressure, you’ll blow your pipe out. Pipe Planner will tell you where you need to be in pipe size. Pipe Planner is designed to regulate water flow across the field.” The real magic happens when farmers add moisture sensors to the process. Pipe Planner may help regulate water flow, but the sensors can tell farmers how much water the crop actually needs. “The sensors tell us what level in the soil the water is located,” says Aust. “They help farmers reduce the number of times irrigation is needed, which reduces pumping time, the amount of diesel fuel needed, the amount of electricity being used…all around it’s saving farmers money.”
Overwatering Hurts Yield
Jeremy Jack, owner of Silent Shade Planting Co., in Belzoni, Mississippi, estimates he’s saving at least one irrigation event per year using moisture sensors on his 12,000 acres of cotton, corn, soybeans and rice. “The soil moisture sensors tell us what’s going on below ground that you can’t see. With the sensors, we know when to irrigate and when not to. The likelihood of overwatering when the plants don’t need it is high without them,” he says. Jack has 64 moisture sensors installed on his 12,000 acres, with the sensors tied to the well pumps and operated by remote telemetry via mobile devices. Farmer Wyatt Skelton was convinced after comparing his corn yields without the technology to an Extension demonstration that used moisture sensors. “I was getting beat every year,” says Skelton, who owns Tricotn Farm in Shaw, Mississippi, and farms 2,700 acres of corn and soybeans. “After implementing the moisture sensors, my irrigation events went from nine to 11 times per year down to three to five times on average.
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Pest Management
Biodegradable Spray Helps Battle Crop Pathogens
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PHOTO COURTESY OF USDA ARS
new sprayable bioplastic — made of cornstarch and other natural ingredients — offers a potentially effective method for delivering beneficial microbes to fight aflatoxin and other agricultural pathogens and pests. Aflatoxin is a highly toxic substance produced by many species of Aspergillus fungi. Annual losses are estimated at more than $200 million for corn. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration prohibits the sale of corn containing more than 20 parts per billion of aflatoxin for the use of human consumption or animal feed. But not all Aspergillus fungi produce aflatoxins; some strains are considered beneficial. U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service scientists are using helpful Aspergillus species to prevent harmful ones from contaminating crops like corn.
Best Option To Date
In earlier research, plant pathologist Hamed Abbas, with ARS’s Biological Control of Pests Research Unit in Stoneville, Mississippi, and other scientists encapsulated a nontoxic, beneficial strain of Aspergillus in granules of bioplastic — a biodegradable plastic derived from organic substances rather than petroleum. The granules worked well in reducing aflatoxin when spread onto soil in the furrows between waist-high corn plants. However, growers needed a better method of delivering the beneficial Aspergillus. Recently, Abbas and collaborator Cesare Accinelli, from the University of Bologna, Italy, developed a sprayable biodegradable formulation, which is easier to apply. In studies, aflatoxin contamination of corn was reduced 97% using this system. “With the spray method, we don’t have to put the beneficial fungus or spore on a granule of bioplastic,” Abbas says. “We melt the bioplastic into a liquid, mix in the biological control agent — a nontoxic, beneficial Aspergillus in this case — and spray it on the plants or coat the seeds with it.”
In Stoneville, Mississippi, plant pathologist Hamed Abbas and his field crew prepare to spray corn with a new aflatoxin-control formulation.
According to the researchers, biological control is the most effective way thus far of reducing aflatoxin contamination. “The bioplastic is made of cornstarch, which is sticky,” he says. “There’s no need to add other materials to make it stick to the plant or seed. Also, it provides nutrition for the beneficial microbes because cornstarch is rich in carbon and energy.” Another advantage of the bioplastic is that it can be delivered in one application in any form: granule, liquid, spray or seed coating, Abbas adds. It is inexpensive, has a long shelf life and is easy to apply. This technology has other potential commercial applications, Abbas notes. In experiments, other microbial biocontrol agents have significantly reduced damage caused by the European corn borer in corn and the tarnished plant bug in cotton. CS
And with 50% less irrigation, I was yielding more bushels of corn. Corn generally doesn’t need a lot of water until the V-10 stage. We were hurting our corn by watering too early.” University researchers received funding from the Natural Resources Conservation Service to continue the program and help farmers obtain the equipment to implement a more efficient irrigation management system on their farm. Through the funding, not only are Extension agents able to provide farmers with moisture sensors, but some farmers are also installing surge valves, the final piece in the irrigation management toolbox. Surge valves make sure that water is getting into the soil profile, specifically when farmers have soil types, such as clay, that do not soak up water as quickly and readily as other soil types, such as sand. Hart, who operates Hope So Farm in Inverness, Mississippi, uses surge valves on his 3,000 acres of heavy clay soils. “The surge valves slow our water down. We were watering too fast in the past.” “There are 27,000 gallons of water per acre-inch, and it takes roughly 3 acre-inches to furrow irrigate. When you do the math, you realize that water can’t continue to come from the aquifer at that rate for agriculture to remain sustainable,” says Aust. “The irrigation management
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PHOTO BY CANDACE POLLOCK-MOORE
Surge Valves For Clay Soils
Mississippi Delta farmer Will Hart
program is about the whole watering process, not simply when to turn water on and off.” CS Article by Candace Pollock-Moore. For more information, visit Southern SARE at www.southernsare.org. CORNSOUTH.COM