The Post Harvest Update and Recertification Workshop will be held December 1, 2016 at the Beck Agricultural Center, Purdue Agronomy Center for Research and Education, 4540 U.S. 52 W., West Lafayette, IN 47906. Pre-register and save money, $95.00 by Nov. 23 and $110.00 after. Registration is limited.

The schedule of the day:

• 8:30 AM Registration, Coffee & Donuts
• 9 AM - 12 PM Sessions
• 12 - 1 PM Catered Lunch Provided
• 1 - 4 PM Sessions
• 4 PM Complete Certification Forms

Session include:

• Modified Atmospheres to Control Insects
• Proactive Grain Management
• Grain Related Entrapments and Asphyxiations
• Monitoring: A Great Pest Management Tool
• Fumigation Update
• Insect and Resistant Management Strategies

CCH’s applied for - Catetories: 1 (1 CCH’s); 7A (6 CCH’s); 7D (6 CCH’s); RT (4 CCH’s). Download the registration form: http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/grainlab/content/pdf/postharvest.pdf

The goal of this two-day workshop will be to provide fundamental crop and pest management information that aligns with the Tri-State Performance Objectives. This information will serve as a baseline for the participants as they study/prepare for the CCA International and/or Local Board exam(s). Supplemental study/reference materials will also be provided to help prepare for the exam(s). Click the link to see all the information: https://ag.purdue.edu/agry/dtc/Pages/ccaexamprep.aspx

Warsaw
Monday, January 23, 2017
Grace College Campus
Winona Heritage Room
901 Park Avenue
Winona Lake, IN 46590
GPS: 41.226011, -85.820866

Alexandria
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Madison County 4-H Fairgrounds
Farm Bureau Building
512 East 4th Street
Alexandria, IN 46001
GPS: 40.257091, -85.668200

Odon
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Odon Community Center
611 Park Street
Odon, IN 47562
GPS: 38.836793, -86.995231

West Lafayette
Thursday & Friday, January 26-27, 2017
Beck Agricultural Center
Agronomy Center for Research and Education
4540 US 52 West
West Lafayette, IN 47906
GPS: 40.46936, -86.99174

Topics:
(same for all locations)

(1) Water, Weeds, and WPS
Joe Becovitz
(2) Weapons for the War on Weeds
Bill Johnson/Travis Legleiter
(3) Keeping Nitrogen and Phosphorus in the Field
Jim Camberato
(4) The Moving Target of Disease Management
Kiersten Wise
(5) Plant Populations for Corn: Where is the Sweet Spot?
Bob Nielsen
(6) Soybean Profitability: Automatic or Manual Drive?
Shaun Casteel
(7) Genetically Modified Crops: Marvel or Malady?
Peter Goldsbrough
(8) Getting the Applicator Safely to and from the Field, Not for the Faint of Heart
Fred Whitford

Credits:
(same for all locations)

6 CCH Category 1
4 CCH Category 11
1 CCH Category 14
4 CCH RT
6.5 CEU (2.5 PM, 3.0 CM, 1.0 NM)
PARP (additional $10 fee collected at site)
Ohio Applicator Credits (requested)

Schedule
(same for all locations)

(Times listed are Eastern Time)
8:30 a.m. - 9 a.m. Registration
9 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Morning Presentations
12:00 p.m. - 12:45 p.m. Lunch Provided
12:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Afternoon Presentations

Online Registration:

<http://www.conf.purdue.edu/crop>

Click on the Crop Management Workshop you want to
attend.

Additional Information:

Concerning “other” registration, contact:
Amanda Shields, Conferences
Phone: (866) 515-0023
e-mail: alschrei@purdue.edu

Concerning content, contact:
John Obermeyer
Phone: (765) 494-4563
e-mail: obe@purdue.edu

Concerning commercial pesticide license, contact:
OISC (765) 494-1492
www.oisc.purdue.edu/pesticide/index.html

The Crop Protection Network (CPN; www.cropprotectionnetwork.org) is a working group made up of state university and provincial Extension specialists, and public/private professionals. This group produces collaborative Extension outputs for farmers and other agribusiness personnel. To date, Extension plant pathologists from over 20 states and Ontario, Canada have contributed to the resources on the CPN website (Figure 1).

Currently there are 24 publications on corn and soybean diseases available on the CPN website (CropProtectionNetwork.org), including a series on how to manage corn ear rots that was released in 2016. The website includes full length publications on important diseases, scouting cards to aid in field-based disease diagnosis, one-page factsheets that address hot topics in field crop diseases, and annual corn disease loss estimates for the United States and Canada (Figure 2).

Publications focus on how to identify and manage diseases, as well as a including information on other diseases that can confuse diagnosis. These resources are updated frequently to incorporate the latest research-based information on disease management. The website (www.cropprotectionnetwork.org) is also mobile friendly to allow publications to be viewed on the go and in the field. More publications are coming soon, so please check back regularly to see what’s new!

We thank the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the North Central Soybean Research Program (NCSRP), the United Soybean Board (USB), and the Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO), for their support of the CPN.

As everyone has probably heard by now, there is finally a federal label for the use of a dicamba product, XtendiMax, on dicamba-resistant (Xtend) soybeans, such as it may be.  We cover some of the highlights from the label here and in part II, some additional thoughts on what it all means.

• The XtendiMax is based on dicamba DGA (Clarity),and the formulation contains “Vapor Grip” (imagine a deep voice with reverb), which reduces the volatility of the dicamba spray mix.  It’s a 2.9 lb/gallon liquid, so 22 oz provides 0.5 lb of dicamba, which is equivalent to 16 oz of Clarity and other 4 lb/gallon dicamba products. 
• mimimum application rate for any use is 22 oz/A.  The maximum rate per application prior to soybean emergence is 44 oz/A, which is also the total maximum allowed for all applications prior to soybean emergence.  The maximum rate per application after soybean emergence is 22 oz/A, and the total of all POST applications cannot exceed 44 oz/A.   The total applied per year for all applications cannot exceed 88 oz.
• POST applications can be made from emergence up to and including the R1 stage of soybean growth.  Weeds should be less than 4 inches tall at time of POST application.  Label states that Monsanto will not warrant product performance when applied to weeds greater than 4 inches tall (how this will work for giant ragweed we have no idea, since it comes out of the ground more than 4 inches tall).
• XtendiMax cannot be tank-mixed with any adjuvants, drift reducing agents, or other herbicides except as eventually approved by Monsanto testing and listed at this website – www.xtendimaxapplicationrequirements.com.  Note – the website isn’t live yet so don’t bother going there. 
• Use of ammonium sulfate, UAN, etc is not allowed due to their potential to increase the volatility of dicamba.  We assume that there will be approved AMS replacement products listed on the website eventually, to mitigate hard water issues. 
• Application parameters:  the only nozzle allowed at this time is the TeeJet TTI11004, used at a maximum pressure of 63 psi; minimum spray volume of 10 gpa; maximum ground speed of 15 mph; spray boom should be no more than 24 inches above target; and no aerial application.
• Do not apply if rain is forecast within the next 24 hours following application.  Do not apply during temperature inversions.
• Wind speed and application:  <3 mph – do not apply; 3 to 10 mph – optimum application conditions provided all other application requirements on label are met; >10 to 15 mph – do not apply when wind is blowing toward non-target sensitive crops; >15 mph – do not apply.
• When “sensitive areas” are downwind from the site of application, a buffer between the last treated soybean row and the sensitive area must be maintained as follows:  22 oz – 110 feet; 44 oz – 220 feet.  The following areas can be considered part of the buffer:  road, paved, or gravel surfaces; agricultural fields that have been planted to corn, Xtend soybeans, sorgum, proso millet, small grains or sugarcane (if you figure out how to successfully grow that last one here in the Midwest let us know); fields that have been prepared for planting but not yet planted; areas covered by footprint of building or other man made structure with walls and/or a roof.
• With regard to “non-target susceptible crops:  do not apply where off-target movement can occur to food, forage etc plantings and cause damage or render the crops unfit for sale, use or consumption; applicators are required to ensure that they are aware of proximity to non-target susceptible crops, including consulting registries that list commercial specialty or certified organic crops that may be near the application site.
• Do not apply when wind is blowing toward “adjacent commercially grown dicamba sensitive crops”, including but not limited to, commercially grown tomatoes and other fruiting vegetables, cucurbits, and grapes.
• there is a whole section on herbicide resistance, which emphasizes the need for “diversified weed control strategies to minimize selection for weed populations resistant to ….herbicides….”.   Some desirable resistance management practices are listed along with the need to scout for non-performance after application and report any such instances to Monsanto.

Realizing that it all had to start somewhere, if your reaction to this first label is something along the lines of  –  “How the heck do we even use the product based on this?”, you are not alone.  Some university weed scientists are having the same thoughts.  As we head into the 2017 growing season not knowing what XtendiMax can be mixed with, it obviously becomes difficult to develop a weed management plan that includes it.  It’s almost impossible to come up with a cost-effective system that includes a lone application of dicamba somewhere within the multiple applications of multiple herbicide sites of action that required for control of the five major resistant weeds in the Midwest – Palmer amaranth, waterhemp, marestail, and common and giant ragweed.  And we would almost never recommend and application of dicamba alone due to the selection for dicamba resistance that can occur.  We assume some of this should be clarified by the growing season, so if we can all just adapt on the fly…..  

It is going to be imperative that everyone involved completely understands without confusion the application guidelines with regard to not injuring nearby sensitive crops, ornamentals, etc.  The label places responsibility for this directly onto the person making the application, so applicators will need to figure out what type of system and alternative plans to have in place to keep up with their typically hectic application schedule and still meet label guidelines based on current weather and proximity to sensitive crops.  As may have been evident from the bullets above, there is confusing wording on the label with regard to the whole issue of non-target crops.  On one page alone, there appears to be interchangeable use of “non-target sensitive” and “non-target susceptible” and “desirable sensitive crops”, and then also there is use of the term “sensitive areas” as a heading for the buffer information.  And then also on the following page some information relative to the crops that are designated as overall more sensitive to dicamba than the “average susceptible crop” – tomatoes, cucurbits, and grapes.  Our questions to Monsanto about this have been met with “well we are still working with EPA to figure this out”.  Sometime soon would be good.  Just a suggestion – consider adding some definitions of these different terms somewhere in there in addition to being consistent in their use.  We will continue to provide updates and some strategies for dicamba use in Xtend soybeans as this situation evolves.