b'Yield Your Way OutKEN PIERSON Of Low PricesSALES AND PRODUCT MANAGER, MERIDIAN MANUFACTURINGkpierson@meridianmfg.com THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST(PNW) is a unique meridianmfg.com agricultural growing region in the United States. Growers produce many different crops, but when you get to the wheat-growing areas in the Palouse What Would You Do With An region, it is a monocropping system with farmers growing wheat after wheat year after year. As thin as Extra 10 Days At Harvest? margins are now, growers have to yield their way out of low commodity prices. They cannot save their way out by cutting back and spending less on inputs.WHAT WE WOULDNTgive for extra hours at harvest. If you could beThe PNW has unique diseases and a high infesta-out there, in the field, seven to 10 days earlier than you typically would,tion of insects affecting wheat. Dwarf bunt mainly in how often would you get caught with a crop you couldnt take off? strikes fall-planted wheat. Rhizoctonia is a common Those farmers who have natural air drying in their bins tell me whenspring disease that can rear its ugly head in a big the wheat is 18 or 20% moisture content, they dont even think about it way if not controlled properly. Wireworms are espe-they harvest. cially severe. Fortunately, there is an entire stable of If youre set up for natural air drying, you can be in the field seven to 10products to help control those issues. Farmers, deal-days earlier than you normally would. You can start combining when thaters, and suppliers all need to have good understand-wheat is at 20% moisture content. ing of each fields disease/insect history. They also I still find theres some confusion about aeration versus natural airneed to understand which seed treatments provide drying. Aeration is grain conditioning or cooling in a bin, which requiresthe best control. Seed treatments are essential, but a low airflow rate of only one-tenth of a CFM per bushel moving throughseed treatments are not created equal.the grain versus natural air drying, which requires three-quarters to oneThe most critical decisions in wheat produc-CFM per bushel. Sometimes harvesting early means the temperature cantion are seed selection, planting depth, and seed be 86 F outside and the grain going into the bin is smoking hot and this istreatments. Wheat that emerges in one to three when being able to aerate the bin is so important as hot grain in a bin withdays has the highest yield potential. The four to six-no air flow increases the risk of grain spoilage.day emerged wheat has a 70-80% yield potential Another benefit of aeration in every bin is once the grain is cooledwhile everything after that is considered a weed. If down, the risk of bug infestations is greatly decreased.growers really want to push the envelope on wheat If you have a 5 hp FC fan on your 4,000-bu. hopper bin for natu- production, they have to look at the whole system. ral air drying, you are truly in control. For example, at the beginning ofI cannot over-emphasize the importance of September you can combine wheat at 20% moisture content and dry itseed selection, planting depth, and seed treatment down in five to seven days to get a jump on harvest. If the grain startsto get strong, consistent, and rapid emergence. The coming off dry later, but hot, you can simply cool the grain down in one toonly way to yield your way out of low prices is to go two days to prevent spoilage. for top yields. Begin with the right fertilization pro-Nothing happens in the bin the first day of natural air drying, as it takesgram, use the right seed, plant at the right depth, the better part of a day for the grain to equalize out both in temperatureand apply the right seed treatments and pressure inside the bin. After that, with ideal drying conditions, youto promote strong, rapid can dry around 3/4 to 1 percentage point per day. emergence. As temperatures cool in the latter part of September or early October, the airs capacity to dry is reduced. There may be warm, dry days, but the evenings are cool, thus the grain dries only around 1/4 to 1/2 a point per day, so then it will take around 10 to 12 days to dry that grain down.Theres a point between mid-October and mid-November where weJASON MIZEtransition from fall to winter conditions. At that point, grain wont dry in SEED TREATMENT BUSINESS a bin as natural air drying will not work below 50 F. The only option is toDEVELOPMENT AND go with some low temperature heaters which can sometimes gain you aSERVICE, NUFARMcouple more weeks of slow drying, or freeze the grain up in the bin andjason.mize@nufarm.com dry it down in the spring.www.nufarm.com/If youre set up for aeration, maintaining the integrity and quality of your product is easy. With natural air drying you could also be buying yourself 10 days at harvestwhat could be better than that?46/ SEEDWORLD.COMOCTOBER 2019'