Ag Matters
Summer 2022
TRAINING DAY See story on page 4
INSIDE
• ‘DFA Nerd Herd’ featured in ad campaign • Phibro interns get hands-on lessons at farm • Farmer sets goal to improve soil health and more...
A publication of est. 1851
AGRINEWS PHOTO/MARTHA BLUM
John Mitchell prepares to administer aspirin to a cow in the fresh pen on the farm near Winnebago, Illinois. Mitchell identifies cows that are not feeling well based off their rumination collars, which track how many minutes per day the cows are ruminating and their activity compared to the baseline normal for each cow.
Shaw Media/ June 2022
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Led by a team of scientists, nutritionists, engineers and more, the DFA Nerd Herd helps educate consumers about Dairy Farmers of America’s sustainability initiatives. KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Milk is the ultimate heat cutter for spicy foods. This June Dairy Month, Dairy Farmers of America is turning up the heat with a new ad campaign featuring the “DFA Nerd Herd” that will show milk doesn’t just cut the heat in spicy foods, but it also can help protect the environment by cutting the heat that methane emissions trap in the planet. Launched in 2021, the DFA Nerd Herd is led by farmers along with a team of engineers, nutritionists, veterinarians, technology experts,
scientists and more to help educate consumers about how DFA farm families are using renewable energy methods, like wind and solar, creating healthy soil and turning waste into power sources through anaerobic digesters to help protect the earth and reduce our carbon footprint. “Our farm families are the original stewards of the land as their farms are their livelihood, so they’re all about protecting the land and their cows for future generations,” said Kristen Coady, senior vice president of corporate affairs at DFA.
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“We hope these new ads featuring the DFA Nerd Herd will help build more awareness with consumers about DFA’s sustainability efforts and help them feel confident about eating their favorite dairy products.” The integrated campaign will reach consumers through videos on YouTube, streaming platforms and digital publications, along with a robust social campaign and digital advertising campaign. To further bring to life milk’s heat-cutting abilities, DFA sponsored a signature interview on World Milk Day with First We Feast’s Emmy-nominated Hot Ones host Sean Evans and Complex’s Speedy
Mormon, where Evans, the Spiciest Man Alive, answered the questions. After June Dairy Month and through the end of 2022, DFA will release additional videos in various social platforms and digital spaces showcasing how dairy is sustainably made and can help protect the planet tied to additional products like ice cream, butter and cheese. The Nerd Herd campaign supports DFA’s overall sustainability strategy and commitment to the planet, its people and communities, as outlined in its 2022 Social Responsibility Report. In 2020, DFA was the first U.S. dairy cooperative to establish a science-based target and work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the supply chain by 30% by 2030. Additionally, the cooperative is part of an industry-wide collaboration on environmental sustainability through the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. As part of this collaboration, the dairy industry has committed to be carbon neutral or better by 2050, and DFA is a key contributor to meeting this goal. To check out the videos and get more information about the DFA Nerd Herd, including where to buy sustainably made dairy products, go to dfanerdherd.com.
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‘DFA Nerd Herd’ featured in ad campaign
Training day Phibro interns get hands-on lessons at farm By Martha Blum
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
WINNEBAGO, Ill. — Summer interns for Phibro Animal Health prepared for their summer work during an on-farm training day at the Mitchell dairy farm. The Phibro Animal Health interns traveled to northern Illinois from across the United States. “We have interns from New York to California here to teach them Phibro’s approved method for being on farm, handling cows and safety along with industry standards for farm management,” said Erica Varner, senior account manager for Phibro Animal Health. The two-day training session started with day of instructions at a hotel.
“We went through safety, educated them on products, expectations in the field and some sales training so they know how to talk to people on the farms,” Varner said. “We also gave them an overview of Phibro — who we are and why we do what we do.” At the dairy farm, the interns observed the cows and the dairy facilities to learn about a variety of management criteria such as body condition scoring, manure scoring, cud chewing, cow comfort, stocking density, respiration rates, proper TMR consistency and urine pH testing. “Our interns are hands-on with cows and we give them projects,” Varner said. “We help them, but we allow them to run their projects independently.” The Phibro interns will do projects
AGRINEWS PHOTO/MARTHA BLUM
Phibro Animal Health interns Rachel Skinner (from left) and Katie Yahnke learn how to take a proper feed sample from Tommie Loken during a training day at the Mitchell dairy farm. A group of college students spent a day at the dairy operation to learn a variety of skills they will utilize during their summer internships.
such as heat stress assessments or in August to present their projects and overall farm stress assessments. all the information they found to the “All the interns will come together intern group and the Phibro leader-
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complete her dairy science degree. “The great thing about internships is you can try it for three months and see of it’s really for you or not and you see all the different parts of the dairy industry without fully committing to them.” “John is so welcoming, he has allowed us to come through and work with the cows,” Varner said. “We really appreciate him opening the farm to us.”
is not down with milk fever, a subclinical problem with calcium levels after the cows calve, can cause them to have a slow start in milk production, Mitchell said. “In general, with this type of product, it’s not very palatable, so if you overfeed it, cows won’t eat,” he said. “Getting it perfectly dialed in is important, so Erica comes to the farm and measures urine pH to determine if we’re feeding it properly.” Varner visits the northern Illinois ANIMATE FED TO DRY COWS farm every one to two months. Mitchell has fed a “Generally by the Phibro product, Anitime you see a probmate, to his dry cows lem in fresh cows, for about three years. “I don’t think I’ve the problem was “Animate is an really a couple of encountered any all-natural mineral weeks ago,” Mitchproduct that is fed ell said. “So, we try other company that to keep on top of it.” for a minimum of 21 days to pre-fresh Phibro offers an sends interns out to Animate cows,” said Varner, app to help who provides ondairymen track the train on a farm.” farm support for the performance of their product with the pre-fresh cows. John Mitchell Mitchells and their “The app is cool, MITCHELL DAIRY AND GRAIN LLC nutritionist. my nutritionist Animate is uses it to look at blended into the urine pH,” Mitchell TMR. said. “We can track “It is an anionic salt and its purpose trends, look at standard deviations or is to help the cows achieve the correct averages. It has historical data, so we calcium metabolism,” Mitchell said. can look at successes or failures.” “The goal is to prevent milk fever and The several days of 90-degree temit has an effect on retained placentas peratures in May had an impact on the and metritis.” 400-cow registered Holstein herd. Research shows that even if a cow “Milk production dr-opped about
five pounds per cow,” Mitchell said. “After that, the cows went through the spring flush that we normally see when it warms up, so we had higher production, but lower components. Milk production was at 91 pounds, it went down to 86 pounds and now the cows are back up to 92 to 93 pounds.” However, the warm, dry days also provided the opportunity to complete the first cutting of alfalfa, as well as the harvesting of cereal rye. “The alfalfa quality was pretty good, the first test we got back from the green sample was 182 RFV and my nutritionist took some more samples today,” said Mitchell about the haylage that was put into a bunker. “The yield was pretty good considering about half of the acres were seeded in the fall.” The yield from the cereal rye was more than Mitchell expected. “It was probably the best yields we’ve had for the six years we’ve done it,” he said. “The cereal rye went into our smallest bunker and filled almost three bags.” Last year the cereal rye filled two storage bags that were not as long as the bags this year. “We did have an extra 20 acres of cereal rye this year,” Mitchell said. “So, hopefully we’re sitting pretty strong on that inventory.” Martha Blum can be reached at 815410-2254, or mblum@shawmedia. com. Follow her on Twitter at: @AgNews_Blum.
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ship team,” said Varner, who is also the intern coordinator. “They asked me for some tips about being courteous on a farm,” said John Mitchell, who together with his brother, Aaron, are partners in Mitchell Dairy and Grain LLC. “I don’t think I’ve encountered any other company that sends interns out to train on a farm.” Phibro’s interns not only receive valuable job experience, they also are paid for their work during the summer. “Our goal since we started this program was to be the best, most sought-after internship in the dairy industry,” Varner said. “We go to the best ag schools across the U.S. and we interview a lot of students,” she said. “We’re only picking the top-tier students to be part of our program and we expect a lot out of them.” Roommates at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, Katie Yahnke and Rachel Skinner are two of the Phibro interns for the summer. “We found out in November that we were interns and I’ve been looking forward to it for the whole spring semester,” said Yahnke, who will be a senior in the fall studying dairy science and ag business. “We’re both friends with one of last year’s interns and she highly recommended the position and talked about all the great things she did last summer so I’m excited,” said Skinner, who will also enter her senior year in the fall to
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Farmer sets goal to improve soil health By Tom C. Doran
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
WORTHINGTON, Iowa — Ryan Gibbs moved to no-till and cover crops five years ago and is now taking his goal of improving soil health to the next level by moving away from fungicides and insecticides. Gibbs and his wife, Kristy, operate Gibbsfield Farms where they grow corn, soybeans, hogs and cattle, as well as offer custom planting, harvesting and seed applications, and is aiming to have his farm become regenerative-verified. He also sells cover crop seed. Gibbs was featured in a recent Cover Crop Strategies podcast. He decided to move away from using fungicides and insecticides after doing some in-depth research. “In the last year I got a chance to meet a lot of very intelligent people who are doing some really neat stuff on their farms and having good success with it. I started learning more about the soil biology and what we’re actually doing when we’re putting some of the stuff on,” Gibbs said. “I own a microscope and took some microscope classes. I met a lot of farmers, lab owners and lab technicians, that have helped me along the way, and they’ve been helping learn about our fungi and bacteria
ratio in our soils and what we’re doing to it when we put these products on.”
It’s basically like putting a Band-Aid on the plant. If we can build up our fungi and bacteria in the soil, that plant is SOLID FOUNDATION more resistant to those diseases.” Gibbs said plants need a solid founGibbs said he previously would do dation in the form of soil, similar to a two applications of fungicide and somehouse needing a good foundation. times three for his Corn Growers contest “You start with a good foundation and corn. “We put the fungicide on and then the house is going to stand. You start with a weak foundation and you’re con- we harvest our corn and whine and complain that the corn stantly putting bandwon’t break aids on it to keep “Earthworms are the stalks down. We have all this the house up. It’s the and it won’t same way with your best livestock any residue break down. Why is it corn and soybean plant. If we build up farmer can have and not breaking down? Fungi eats carbon and that soil and make it healthy, then you they’re free. And you needs a source, it needs something to eat such don’t have to throw all of those band- don’t have to go feed as corn stalks, woodchips, grass clippings. aids on it to keep the them every day.” That’s consumed by plants healthy and fungi,” he said. keep them standing,” Ryan Gibbs “When you spray he noted. GIBBSFIELD FARMS a fungicide on a corn “A fungicide preplant and kill off all vents the fungus from of the fungi, you have growing on the nothing to break it plant. down into the soil. So, we’re stuck with all this residue that won’t break down, and now we’ve
got to it with tillage. I hear guys say they can’t no-till because they have too much residue. Well, let’s step back a minute and look at the whole picture.” He made the move completely away from fungicides last year in an effort to build soil health and still produced 252-bushel corn for the Corn Growers contest in a no-till corn-on-corn field. GOOD, BAD BUGS Gibbs also cut back on our insecticide last year by over 50%, applying only in-furrow, but in retrospect wishes he didn’t apply any. “You’ve got to realize for every good bug there’s a bad bug. It’s a predator/ prey relationship. When you put insecticide down you’re not just targeting one bug. You’re going to kill them all. If we can bring in the beneficials they’re going to keep the bad ones in check. There are bad ones out there, but if we can keep them in check that’s a whole new ballgame,” he said. “I never liked working with insecticides to begin with. Anything that messes with a nervous system of a living creature is probably not good for humans to be around. The insecticide targets the nervous system to kill the bug.” Rather than using traditional insecticide this growing season, Gibbs will use chitin, a product derived from the shells of all crustaceans and insect exoskeletons. A chitin-treated plant exhibits improved nutrient absorption and increased survival rates in tough growing conditions. “It helps the fungal walls and cell walls’
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reducing runoff. “Building up soil health is huge. Anytime you keep living roots in the soil, there’s biology happening underneath the soil. You drive down the road, you see a field that’s chisel plowed or even a field that’s just sitting fallow with no cover crop, there is very little to no biology happening in that soil. There’s nothing going on. There’s no party,” he said. “Throw some cover crops out there, you have roots growing. Even if that cereal rye is one inch tall in the fall and it snows, then roots went in the ground. There’s still something happening all winter long beneath that snow. There’s nutrients being mineralized, there’s earthworms working. “Earthworms are the best livestock any farmer can have and they’re free. And you don’t have to go feed them every day. You don’t have to haul their manure. They reproduce by themselves in the soil. They spread their manure in the soil. “Worm castings, I learned this the other day, have a pH of seven. It’s a neutral pH. Well, that helps to keep your soils in balance with your pH level. We all put on lime when the pH is low. Plenty of earthworms will help to bring some of that pH back down to keep that soil healthy. So, living roots on the ground keeps that biology, keeps COVER CROPS Gibbs has witnessed firsthand the ben- microbes working, releasing nutrients, efits of cover crops that include improv- recycling stuff, just like it’s supposed to ing soil health, weed suppression and happen.” Gibbs typically uses a cereal rye structure plus it helps to deter insects from the seed. At least that’s what I’ve been reading and from the folks I’ve talked to. So, we put that in-furrow, we did leave check strips in every single field. We had it flagged, we’re going to be doing root digs and monitor it all season long,” Gibbs said. “Chitin helps your fungi, it helps your soil and it doesn’t kill off stuff. I’m a ‘liver,’ not a ‘dier.’ I’d rather see more stuff living than try to kill off everything and try to control everything. We were running some of that in-furrow.” Always hungry to learn, Gibbs is also trying compost extract, working with Living Soils Compost Labs and a nearby farmer who has been using the product. Compost extract is the end biological product from compost. “We’re using Johnson-Su bioreactors to make fungal-dominant compost and basically putting beneficial biology, right in-furrow, building that soil biology to release nutrients naturally,” Gibbs said. He also will not use commercial fertilizer this growing season, moving only to hog manure. “Hog manure is very beneficial. It has a lot of nutrients in it, and with the price of fertilizer, I already have 200 pounds of nitrogen out there,” he added.
Cover crops have been shown to improve water and soil quality, reduce erosion and capture nutrients. cover crop for weed suppression ahead of soybeans and legume covers such as clovers and hairy vetch produce nitrogen in the soil for the next corn crop.
Tom C. Doran can be reached at 815-410-2256 or tdoran@ shawmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at: @AgNews_Doran.
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Soil health practices complement integrated pest management efforts
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By Rachel Curry
Moving from a conventional operation to one focused on soil health brings about several considerations and decisions. Soil health practices focus on four primary principles: Minimize disturbance, maximize living cover, maximize biodiversity, and maximize continuous living roots. In-field conservation practices may address one or more of the soil health principles. A more soil health-focused operation, especially one that includes no-till, diverse crop rotations, and cover crops can bring many positive outcomes. These include improved water infiltration, increased organic matter, increased biological diversity, and reduced nutrient losses. Current research is investigating other benefits
of a soil health focus, such as potential impacts to plant health and resilience to pests, reducing needs for herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. Soil health-focused conservation practices can bring many benefits to an operation, many of which are complementary to integrated pest management. Cover crop mixes can meet various needs and/or goals for an operation, including weed suppression, pest management, and soil-borne pathogen control. Weed suppression. Growing while the field would otherwise be bare, a cover crop can compete with weeds through the fall and spring prior to planting. The increased competition for resources can reduce a weed’s ability to survive and may decrease the need for herbicide applications. Cover crops also reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the soil surface, which reduces a weed’s ability to germinate and grow. Cover crops can also release a chemical from the roots or from decaying cover crop residue, which also inhibit weed seed germination. This weed suppression benefit may become increasingly important as more weeds develop herbicide tolerances.
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Beneficial insects and reduced insect damage. Another added benefit of cover crops, depending on the cover crop mix used, is its ability to attract beneficial insects. These beneficial insects can compete with detrimental insects resulting in a decreased need for insecticide applications. It is important to keep in mind when selecting cover crops that the system could favor pests or beneficials. Multiple studies have been conducted across Illinois to determine the impact of cover crops on insect pest management. Current research being conducted by Dr. Nick Seiter indicates that it is relatively uncommon to have incidence of economic damage following a cover crop. Research also indicates that reduced insect pest populations can be linked to enhanced soil health. Soil-borne pathogen control. Soil health promoting practices such as notill, diverse crop rotations, and cover crops can also impact and increase the soil microbiological diversity. Increased microbiological diversity has been shown to reduce soil-borne pathogens that cause plant disease. Research indicates that a more diverse ecosystem below ground is correlated
to a plant’s ability to resist or tolerate insect pests and disease. The increased biodiversity in the soil results in an increased number of beneficial organisms that help to prevent disease infection in a cash crop. Economic benefits. Several soil health-focused practices may reduce the need for herbicide, insecticide, and/or fungicide applications. This results in an economic benefit. The reduced need for chemical applications, especially in a time when some chemicals are difficult to source and increasingly expensive, in addition to reduced field traffic, result in a better economic return on a cash crop. For additional information on the impact of soil health promoting practices’ impact on insects, contact Dr. Nick Seiter at nseiter@illinois.edu, or your local commercial agriculture educator. For additional information on the impact of soil health promoting practices’ impact on soil-borne pathogen control, contact Dr. Chelsea Harbach at harbach2@illinois.edu, or your local commercial agriculture educator. Rachel Curry is aUniversity of Illinois Extension Watershed Outreach Associate.
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Project uses satellite remote sensing to predict spread of spotted lanternfly WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Like a stylish secret agent, the spotted lanternfly has a striking appearance, but it is shrouded in mystery. Its movements are stealthy and devastating. And like something out of a suspense novel, a skilled team is using satellite technology to stay one step ahead of it. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Tactical Sciences for Agricultural Biosecurity program awarded nearly $1 million for a project to use satellite remote sensing to learn more about this mysterious pest and develop a model to predict its movements. “The spotted lanternfly has the potential to be a major forest pest and economic threat, but we know very little about it,” said John Couture, associate professor of entomology and forestry and natural resources in Purdue University’s College of Agriculture, who leads the project. “While tree of heaven is the dominant preferred host for lanternfly, other economically valuable hosts are also preferred. Walnut, grape and a variety of fruit trees are some of its favorite alternative hosts. If we could predict where it would go next, protections could be put in place and damage could be reduced.” Couture and a team including collaborators at Purdue, Pennsylvania State University and Temple University will use satellite data to study the spotted lanternfly, observe changes in infested trees and map and predict the pests’ spread. The spotted lanternfly, easily identified by a splash of red on its wings and almost polka-dot spots, is native to China and was first detected in the United States in 2014. The insect uses a piercing mouthpart to feed on phloem, the tissue that transports nutrients throughout the tree. The pest doesn’t fly long distances, but it hitches rides in cargo and has spread following major transportation routes. Its local spread and how it moves once it has arrived in an area is less understood, Couture said. That is what the team plans to target with new technology based on remote sensing. “We are all familiar with satellites’ mapping capabilities through apps like Google Earth, but some satellites also capture spectral data that can tell us about the health of and stress responses within a tree,” said Couture,
who is a part of Purdue’s Digital Forestry initiative. “Common characteristics of host trees and changes in infested trees may reveal what makes them attractive to this invasive species. We don’t know why the lanternfly chooses certain tree species and prefers different hosts at different stages of its life, but we hope to find out.” The team plans to couple what it learns from the spectral data with tree stand proximity to major transportation routes to create a model that will predict spotted lanternfly movement, Couture said. “One thing in our favor is that the lanternfly feeds on the outside of the tree, so it is different from other stem-boring pests, such as emerald ash borer,” said Couture, who also is a member of Purdue’s Center for Plant Biology and Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center. “This means a broader range of mitigation strategies can be used, like different cultural practices and pesticide applications.” Couture has combined his expertise in plant chemical and physiological ecology and plant-insect interactions with remote sensing since his first position out of graduate school in a remote sensing lab. “The scale that can be achieved through remote sensing is incredible,” he said. “We can mine data from hundreds of thousands of trees within a matter of days, and those data can be used to show what happens under natural conditions. “By pairing this with what we learn from controlled studies, we make giant leaps in our understanding of the world around us. We hope that this is only the beginning and such tools can be created to predict the spread of other invasive and destructive species.” In addition to Couture, Purdue team members include Elizabeth Barnes, entomology exotic forest pest educator, and Matthew Ginzel, professor of entomology and forestry and natural resources and director of Purdue’s Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center. The Digital Forestry Initiative is part of Purdue’s Next Moves in agriculture, which focuses on using data and technology to improve the productivity, resilience and nutritional value of plants in changing environments.
The spotted lanternfly feeds on the trunk and branches of woody plants, causing them to wilt and die. The insect also secretes a substance that can build up under plants and promote growth of black, sooty mold.
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Tools available to help reduce heat stress in dairy cows By Martha Blum
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
LEWISBURG, Ohio — Reducing heat stress for dairy cows will help to maintain dry matter intake and avoid the loss of milk production. “The dairy industry in the U.S. loses about $897 million in milk production to heat stress every year,” said Tim Thompson, dairy field technical specialist for Provimi. “We can’t 100% prevent it, but we’re going to do as much as we possibly can to keep our losses at a minimum.” Thompson advises dairymen to observe their cows. “Everybody’s conditions are different so you really need to watch your cows and let the cows tell you if they’re hot,” said Thompson during a webinar hosted by Hoard’s Dairyman. “The easiest way to do that is look at respiration,” Thompson said. “When the temperature humidity index is under 68, your cows’ respiration rate will typically be under 60,” he explained. “When the respiration rate gets to 61 to 65 respirations per minute, the cow is starting to experience some kind of heat stress.” One way to help the cows is air movement. “We need to have air movement over the cows so we’re getting the stale air out in between the cows,” Thompson said. “Air needs to be moving over the cows 4 to 6 mph, but I’ve been in barns where they had too much air because excessive air is not comfortable, either.” Placement of fans in dairy barns is important. “More dairymen are using separated solids as bedding and these are very fine particles that can be blown all over,” Thompson said. “If we have the fans blowing down the stall instead of blowing just over the top of the cows, that will blow those particles around for the cows to breathe in and that will make the cows more susceptible to pink eye or pneumonia.” Water is a cooling factor for dairy cows. “Under normal conditions cows will drink about three times the dry matter intake and they also need to drink enough water to replace the water lost in milk production,” Thompson said. “You need about three linear inches of water space per cow for them to drink from and it needs to be clean water,” he stressed. “With heat stress the water intake can go up as much as five times the dry mater intake.” During summer months, Thompson said, it is a good idea to put a water source in the return alleys.
“Studies show that cattle will drink up to 33% of their needs in the return alleys,” Thompson said. “There needs to be 2 feet of water space for half the parlor so if you have a double 12 then you need 24 feet of water space.” Adding sprinklers to a dairy barn is beneficial for the cows. “The combination of fans and water is what really cools the cows,” Thompson said. “Set the sprinklers correctly. Too often they are too high.” Water should fall on the backs of the cows, where the heat is being created. “Cows have extremely high metabolism so they’re making a lot of heat and the rumen is a big fermentation vat,” Thompson said. “Anytime we have fermentation we have heat.” Feeding at night can help cows with heat stress. “Cows like to eat big meals just before dusk, so during the heat of the day they’re not too excited about getting feed,” Thompson said. “At night we can get cows eating as much as twothirds of their total intake compared to during the day under heat stress.” Depending on the forage situation, there are inoculants that can help with bunk life. “Once the feed starts to warm up that starts depressing dry matter intake,” Thompson said. “At 17 to 20 cents per head per day, you can get a return on investment for a TMR preserver very quickly if your feeds are heating.” Many heat abatement additives are available and they all help the cow in some form, Thompson said. “But some are more cost-effective than others and some do a better job than others,” he said. Vasodilators are organic compounds such as niacin or capsicum. “They increase the blood flow to the skin and allow the heat to dissipate off the animal,” Thompson said. “Animals will do this naturally, but the vasodilators make it go faster.” Vasodilators are fed only as needed. “The con of vasodilators is they have the tendency to decrease the blood flow to the gastrointestinal tract and they also decrease the blood flow to the rumen, but research on these products has not been consistent,” Thompson said. Electrolytes are positively charged inorganic materials such as sodium and potassium. “They help to retain the water in the cell to prevent dehydration,” Thompson said. “They help replace losses of sodium in sweat, as well as from milk production.” Electrolytes are only fed when needed.
“They are a short-term solution and they can’t be fed to dry cows,” Thompson said. Osmolytes are small organic compounds found in nature that attract water molecules. “Osmolytes are similar to electrolytes in the way they maintain cell hydration,” Thompson said. In addition, osmolytes help complement heat shock proteins. “When an animal gets sick its body temperature goes up because it is trying to destroy the cell proteins in the bacteria or virus to fight off the disease,” Thompson said. “The same thing happens in heat stress, the heat shock proteins try to prevent cellular destruction.” Osmolytes can be fed to dry cows. “But they have to be fed proactively to get accumulated protection against heat stress,” Thompson said. Preventing heat stress is also important for dry cows. “When it comes to heat, you need to treat dry cows like a lactating herd,” Thompson said. “You got to have shade for them and air movement.”
The dry cows need cool drinking water. “One inch of linear water space per cow is sufficient,” Thompson said. “They probably need sprinkling of water, but not as intense as lactating cows because these cows are not producing as much heat since they’re not eating as much.” For more information about products available from Provimi, go to www.provimius.com. Martha Blum can be reached at 815410-2254, or mblum@shawmedia. com. Follow her on Twitter at: @AgNews_Blum.
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Identifying nitrogen loss factors
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
GENESEO, Ill. — Nitrogen is often a balancing act between profitability and optimum productivity, and the possibility of N loss further complicates the issue. Understanding the factors that influence nitrogen loss will help growers determine their specific situation and help them make more informed decisions, according to Eric Wilson, Wyffels Hybrids agronomy manager. Leaching, denitrification and volatilization are the main pathways for nitrogen loss. “Leaching is the primary one that we talk about. It’s the movement of nitrate through the soil with water,” said Wilson in a video focusing on factors to help farmers identify at-risk fields. Nitrate is the most abundant form of nitrogen because typically under warm spring conditions, all forms of nitrogen convert to nitrate. It does have a negative charge, so it’s not held by the cation-exchange capacity, and it readily moves with water. “Losses are directly dependent on
rainfall and temperature. However, it’s not always associated with heavy rainfall events. In fact, a lot of heavy rainfall events you can get surface runoff that doesn’t move through the surface profile,” Wilson said. “You have to have warm temperatures for ammonia to convert to nitrate in order for it to be leached through the profile.” Denitrification is the conversion of nitrate to dinitrogen. It typically happens under saturated and warm or flooded conditions. “Denitrification is the primary loss pathway under flooded conditions. This is very dependent on temperature. Losses per day can range from 2% (50 to 60 degrees) to 5% (65-plus degrees). Significant loss does happen under saturated soil conditions, especially when we have warmer temperatures later in the spring,” Wilson said. Volatilization is the gaseous loss of ammonia from urea or ammonia-based fertilizers. “Volatilization is typically not a primary loss pathway for a lot of us, but it can happen. It’s directly associated with surface-applied fertilizers that are
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left unincorporated,” Wilson noted. “Keep in mind we have to have a little bit of rainfall to get that nitrogen to move down into the soil profile, unless we’re doing some early spring tillage to incorporate that.” Wilson gave the following tips to determine if and when to act if nitrogen loss is suspected: • Above-average spring rainfall, specifically between May and June, usually justifies additional nitrogen applications above what was already done. • If ponding or saturated soils have existed for extended periods, assume
significant nitrogen loss to denitrification. “Keep in mind these are all temperature dependent. If it’s happening early season and we don’t have warm temperatures to get conversion to happen, it’s unlikely that we’ve lose a lot of nitrogen, especially if it’s still in the ammonium form,” Wilson added. • A low spring nitrate test justifies an additional nitrogen application. Tom C. Doran can be reached at 815-410-2256 or tdoran@shawmedia. com. Follow him on Twitter at: @AgNews_Doran.
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