Ptfle 22—Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 14, 1995
IPM* RESEARCH
ON FIELD CORN
PROVIDES ANSWERS
Carrie Kopllnka-Loehr
New York State
Integrated Pest Management
Program, Cornell
New York’s field com has
been valued at $350 million in
recent years, so learning sound
ways to protect this crop from
pests is a high priority.
Researchers at Cornell Univer
sity are working with funding
from the New York State Inte
grated Pest Management Prog
ram to fine-tune ways for far
mers to keep production high
and environmental risks low.
Predicting Western Com
Rootworm Injury. Many grow
ers continue to be concerned
about western and northern
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com rootwonn. Com rootworm
larvae, which feed on the roots
of field com, can weaken the
plants to such a degree that they
topple over. Scouts currently
gauge the risk of rootworm
injury by counting the adult
beetles on com plants. If the
action threshold is reached, the
following year the field might
be planted to a different crop, or
an insecticide is applied.
Recent studies suggest that the
threshold is right on target for
silage com, but needs refining
for use with grain com.
Because unnecessary soil
insecticide use can cost produc
ers $l4 to $l6 per acre and
increase the risk of ground and
surface water contamination,
improvements to pest assess
ment methods are needed.
In 1994, IPM researchers
evaluated the effectiveness of
J-STAR Scale Systems combine reliability,
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• Make more efficient use of your
trucks by consistently hauling
at or near capacity, without
underhauling.
• Monitor load placements and
weights at the time of shipment.
• Verify the weight of bulk
commodity purchases.
• Monitor crop yields.
• Handle up to 40,000 or 50,000
pound loads par tandem or
single axle.
• Assemble and Install the J-STAR
scale system where needed...
quickly and easily.
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three methods. They tied yel
low sticky cards to com stalks
so they could check for adults,
counted live adults on the
plants, and made egg traps.
These traps were plastic con
tainers of clay “kitty litter” that
were buried in the ground,
camouflaged with a com leaf,
and later examined for any eggs
that females would have laid in
this “soil.” Through this
research, more accurate eco
nomic injury levels will be
established. Fov example, simi
lar research suggests that if 100
rootworm eggs per row foot are
found in silage com, or 300
eggs per row foot are found in
grain com, farmers might
decide to treat or rotate the field
out of com the following year.
In a related project on silage
com. researchers determined
that manure applications of 20
to 40 tons per acre increased
plant height and the crop’s
tolerance to rootworm.
Velvetleaf Threat Depends
on Weather, Velvetleaf, a pro
lific weed with velvety, heart
shaped leaves, is not easily con
trolled by the pieplant herbi
cides applied to fields. Fanners
might ignore low populations
of velvetleaf if they could be
assured that their com yields
would remain high. For four
years, crop scientists have been
determining what economic
threshold, if any, exists for this
weed so that fanners can decide
Another surprise all this
psrlormancs capability
For a scale system this economi
cal, you might expect J-STAR to
scrimp on features. Not so. Take a
look at all you get:
• Standard 7 ft. x 10 ft platform,
sized to easily accommodate
tandem axles.
• Two models to choose from,
with 40,000 pound or 50,000
pound capacities per tandem or
single axle.
• Rugged J-STAR weigh beams
with '/■ of 1% accuracy ,
(99 5% accurate).
• Choice of accurate, reliable scale
indicators to match your weigh
ing needs and preferences.
• Shock-resistant strain gauge load
cells (or long-lasting, depend
able performance
• Engineered and constructed
ol heavy structural steel lor
years of dependable service and
demanding use
• Portable operation, if desired,
because ol the system's 12-volt
DC electronics, 3 point tractor
hitch lift attachment and de
tachable ramps (40,000 pound
model only); and low-profile,
easy-on-and-olt platform design.
■ aa Rugged J-STAR Seal*
|MI Systems art constructed of
heavy gauge structural steel
about additional control mea
sures. This painstaking
research involves hand
weeding of plots to allow a
specified number of velvetleaf
plants to grow, then taking
“canopy measurements” from a
view of 4 feet above the
groundto determine what por
tion of a square meter is cov
ered by the weed leaves or by
com leaves. At the conclusion
of the 1994 field season,
researchers confirmed that
when velvetleaf is in competi
tion with com (dry years),
yields can be reduced by 48
percent because plants are
moisture-deprived. In wet
years, com plants will be able to
tolerate substantial competition
from velvetleaf. Two obstacles
to implementation of weed
thresholds are the accuracy of
long-term weather predictions
and future implications for
weed seed production.
Rotating Com with Soy
beans Shows Benefits. This
past year entomologists, patho
logists, and soil and crop scien
tists began a second phase of a
project to determine the best
cultural practices for grain
com. They concluded that in
rotated com, chemical inputs
can be greatly reduced or elimi
nated. In the past, the research
ers demonstrated that planting a
non-com crop for one year can
control com rootworm and
eyespot disease, and increase
yields. They also showed that
T
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UIPMENT
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All this plus J-STAR’s years ol A choice that gives you a proven
expertise in building hard- management tool that can provide
working, long-lasting equipment vital information to help you con
makes a J-STAR Scale System the sistently make better business
logical choice lor your operation. decisions. The "easy weigh."
Opllona and weighing versatility
• Detachable ramps.
• 3-pomt tractor hitch lift
attachment (40,000 pound
model only).
• AC/OC power convener for
stationary operation.
• Indicator stand
7 ft. by 10 ft. weighing platform easily handles tandem axles.
com and soybeans can be
grown with less heibicide by
applying the chemical in a band
and cultivating once. In that
demonstration, weed control
was adequate, and yields were
the same as crops managed
traditionally. Two rotation
plans were studied; continuous
com, and com rotated with soy
beans (which is useful as a cash
crop and has had few pest prob
lems in recent trials). These
schemes were combined with
two tillage systems, moldboaid
plow and conservation tillage.
Conservation tillage systems
keep topsoil and residues in
place. For example, the chisel
plow, which shatters the soil,
turns over less soil than the
traditional moldboard plow.
Although the chisel plow is cur
rently used on 30 percent of the
state’s com acreage, use is like
ly to increase.
Research on production and
pest management with this
implement has just begun in
New York. The final variable in
the research was the pest man
agement system. Researchers
tested three approaches: cultur
al (rotary hoe plus cultivation),
chemical (insecticide and
broadcast herbicide), and
reduced-chemical (banded her
bicide) plus cultural. The 1994
data suggest that in nonrotated
com, reducing chemical inputs
may be difficult.
• Radio-controlled remote opera
tion (Model 15 only)
• Printer (or batch or other
weighing applications
(Model 15 only).
• Computer interface capabilities
(Model 15 only).
on a