Larry Oldham
Virginia
Writer.www.oldhamhill.blogspot.com
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Articles by Larry Oldham
2022 Nitrogen Fertilizer Recommendations for Wheat
Our moist climate can challenge our ability to provide sufficient nitrogen fertility for growing productive wheat. Extremely high fertilizer prices only amplify our need and desire to manage this valuable input as efficiently as possible. Therefore, using best management practices are likely more important for wheat than any other crop, including corn. This is because wheat is grown during the wettest months of the year in our rainy, warm climate, which is normally very conducive to nitrogen loss.
The Topic of the Times: Fertilizer Prices and What to Do
The fire-starter for 2022 crop input discussions is fertilizer prices. Without getting into the why for the current volatility, first recall this situation is not entirely unique. Potash at the farmgate was about 14 cents per pound for years, if not decades.
Burning Stalks - What does it Really Cost?
Despite all the talk about improving soil health, soil carbon, cover crops and other hot topics, it may be easy to overlook the considerable impact that crop residue management has on soils and future productivity. Following harvest, we face a unique situation because corn produces far more biomass than other row crops, as well as cover crops. Historically, many perceive this corn residue as “trash” or a problem which should be removed by fire or heavily manipulated by tillage.
Carbon soil baselines needed before entering the carbon market
• By Larry Oldham • Pull soil samples in the fall and have the soils lab run a carbon analysis. This establishes a soil carbon baseline against which improvements can be gauged — photo courtesy Mississippi State University Participating in the soil carbon (C) market requires baseline information about the producer’s inventory to offer potential buyers. This fall is the time for the soil carbon-curious growers to begin establishing their benchmarks.
Soil Carbon Market Questions
The best business managers have long-term, pro-active strategies to achieve their goals. Soil carbon (C) may not appear on the top, or even near the top of pressing concerns at this point in the season for growers. But this crop will be past the June flood and finished in just a few weeks or months, and the next crop begins as soon as the current one is harvested. In Mississippi, fall soil sampling and liming are standard procedures in many row crop operations.
Immediately After the Flood Soil Management
All photos courtesy of Tucker Miller Flooding is challenging Mississippi families, homes, and farms again, hence, this should be a review for many readers. The first Mississippi Crop Situation post about flooded soils was published in May 2011.
Soil management immediately after the flood
• By Larry Oldham • Flood waters cover a cotton field in Mississippi — photos by Tucker Miller Flooding is challenging Mississippi families, homes and farms again, hence, this should be a review for many readers. The first Mississippi Crop Situation post about flooded soils was published in May 2011.
Avoiding Nutrient Movement in the Landscape
We studied using ‘programmed decisions’ in a long-ago business management class to streamline responses: if this happens, then do X, Y, and Z. Of course, nothing ever happens according to plan. Planning reduces problems down the road however, we cannot predict everything that will happen at the agricultural-environment interface. Severe weather timing and intensity, temperature changes, or even insect pressure affect nutrient management outcomes, but we cannot succumb to frustration at the start.
Optimizing Corn Response to Nitrogen Fertilizer
Mississippi’s warm, wet climate can pose considerable issues with nitrogen fertilization for corn, which is quite responsive and demands high amounts for optimal productivity. The South’s warm, high rainfall climate greatly increases potential nitrogen loss through volatilization, denitrification and leaching, compared to drier and colder climates.
Get to Know Your Soil
Get to Know Your Soil The soils in Mississippi are diverse, reflecting parent material differences, the warm, humid climate, very active soil biology because of the warm, humid climate, and the unique topography. Agriculture in each part of the state derives from the present-day surface soils: over 80% of the state’s row crop production is in the Delta; the Brown Loam and Coastal Plain areas have more animal agriculture and forestry, plus the remaining row crop acreage.
University of Arkansas Soybean Economic Notes, April 16, 2021
Bob Stark, agricultural economics professor with the University of Arkansas’ School of Agriculture and Southeast Research & Extension Center, Monticello, and Jeremy Ross, professor and Extension soybean agronomist, Little Rock, review the trading week in Arkansas ending April 16, 2021. The report includes a 2020 Crop Cash Market Report and a 2021 Crop Booking Market Report.
Get to know your soil
• By Larry Oldham • Three ‘old school’ soil survey books The soils in Mississippi are diverse, reflecting parent material differences; the warm, humid climate; very active soil biology because of the warm, humid climate; and the unique topography. Agriculture in each part of the state derives from the present-day surface soils.
Read the Fertilizer and Lime Labels!
To read and follow pesticide labels is common knowledge and accepted practice in agriculture. It should be practiced more for fertilizers, lime, and soil fertility enhancement products. Fertilizers: Why read these labels? The agriculture sector knows the three numbers of a fertilizer are the percent nitrogen (N), and the respective oxide equivalents of phosphorus (phosphate), and potassium (potash). Sometimes it helps to know more.
The quiet nutrient
Don’t ignore sulfur deficiencies, which have become more common as atmospheric emissions grow cleaner. • By Larry Oldham • Normal plants (left) and S-deficient plants (right) — photo courtesy North Carolina State University Sulfur is essential for growing plants. It is a component of two of the amino acids that make up proteins. According to The Fertilizer Institute, 200 bushels of corn per acre remove 16 pounds, and 60 bushels of soybeans per acre remove 11 pounds S per acre.
Fundamental Fertilizer Management for 2021 in the Mid-South
Fertilizer prices are a trending topic of Plant 2021. Many, if not most row crop farmers in Mississippi and surrounding states address basic soil fertility needs either via fall applications of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), and/or booking preseason prices with their fertilizer suppliers. If this is you, the weekly fertilizer price spikes are just interesting.
Planning to Lime for the 2022 Crop
Corn in soil with pH 4.3, photo by E. Larson. Wait a minute, aren’t we just now planting the 2021 crop? True, however, some fields being planted now will suffer from soil acidity issues this year. There may be short term band-aids available, but long-term solutions will be necessary. One of my mentors in this business said, “pH easy to spell, more difficult to understand”.
Effect of Poultry Litter Applications on Soil Physical Properties
Water infiltration study post-poultry litter applications. Photo courtesy of Dr. Gary Feng, USDA-ARS. Healthy soils have thriving biological populations busy recycling nutrients. Just as good working environments aid human productivity, good working environments foster the soil biological population. Soil physical factors that impact this work environment include aggregation, bulk density, and water holding capacity.
Practices That Sequester Soil Carbon
Photo courtesy of Dr. Beth Baker Soil carbon (C) sequestration is the practice of growing plants to capture atmospheric C and store it in the soil to mitigate climate change. Soil carbon sequestration is not a magic bullet for climate mitigation but has a role in the management toolbox. The Biden administration has made soil C sequestration a priority of the US Department of Agriculture under USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Mississippi: Managing Soils for Carbon Sequestration
Mississippi: Managing Soils for Carbon Sequestration March 1, 2021 By Larry Oldham, Mississippi State University Extension Soils Specialist Clover cover crop in cotton stalks. Photo: G. Rowsey, University of Tennessee Private and public sector stakeholders are striving to boost soil carbon (C) as a climate migration strategy. This note will focus on the science of soil C, and management practices that may increase it.
Soil N Testing in Mississippi - Why We Can’t Have Good Things
We in Extension sing the praises of soil testing constantly because it provides a snapshot in time of the ability of a soil to provide nutrients to growing plants. The results, along with a research base, are the basis for soil fertility recommendations. This process is robust and healthy for phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) management, even as noted previously, undergoing refinement. Conversely soil testing for nitrogen (N) is challenging in what we call the warm, humid south.
Sulfur, the Quiet Plant Nutrient
Sulfur (S) is essential for growing plants. It is a component of two of the amino acids that make up proteins. According to The Fertilizer Institute, 200 bushels of corn per acre removes 16 pounds and 60 bushels of soybeans per acre removes 11 pounds S per acre. From North Carolina State: cotton seed and lint remove about five pounds S per acre. Practically all S used by plants is absorbed as the sulfate ion (SO42-) from soil.
Avoiding Fertilizer Damage in Starter Applications
Starter fertilizer often promotes corn growth and productivity. (Photo: Erick Larson) Starter fertilizers are often part of a successful nutrient management strategy. See Strategies to Improve Corn Profitability for their potential in corn production. As with any fertility program, implementation of starters requires attention to detail. Avoid fertilizer burn: Fertilizer burn may occur when fertilizers are applied with or near seed at planting.
Soil Test Recommendations
Where does this recommendation based on my soil test results come from? If you are a grower not asking it, start. Three common recommendation philosophies are used to interpret the soil testing data to provide the recommendations. Sufficiency: based on the principle that critical levels exist for individual nutrients. If the soil tests are above those levels, a response to fertilization with those nutrients is unlikely. A crop response is likely if the test is lower than the critical level.
Let’s review poultry litter as a row-crop fertilizer
• By Larry Oldham • A small stack of poultry litter — photo by Larry Oldham It is time to once again review using poultry litter, aka broiler litter, to fertilize row crops. Many growers now have their own experiences, so this should be a reminder. Prior to the last 10 to 15 years, poultry litter was primarily used to fertilize hay and forage crops in fields near the production facilities.
Keeping Love In Your Relationship
You have found the perfect mate. He or she is the one who you want to spend the rest of your life loving and sharing through thick and thin. You may ask yourself, “How do you sustain the love you felt the first week, month, or year?” The root of the question is to understand love is not easy. Loving someone is one of the most exhilarating feelings you will ever have in your life.
Think about liming this fall
Acid soils will benefit from liming to aid crop growth and development. If a current soil test has a lime recommendation, applying in the fall provides more time for the lime to react with the soil, less management stress, and better field conditions for equipment operation. Soil acidity problems rarely have dramatic visual symptoms. Affected areas are less hardy or vigorous in growth; the size of the areas increases within fields over several growing seasons.
Researchers Examine Broiler Litter As Fertilizer For Row Crops
Home » Special Report » Researchers Examine Broiler Litter As Fertilizer For Row Crops April 1, 2019 in Special Report • By Larry Oldham • Editor’s note: Here are highlights of Larry Oldham’s broiler litter article. To see the complete report, go to https://bit.ly/2TTx6X1. Extensive research has been conducted with poultry litter as a nutrient source for row crops within Mississippi. Here are several considerations about including poultry litter in the nutrient program.
Fertilizing Crops with Poultry Litter
Poultry litter has been used to produce Mississippi crops for decades. However, most often it has fertilized hay and forage crops grown near the production facilities. The increased volatility of inorganic fertilizer prices circa 2008 led to more interest and use in row crops over the past decade. Mississippi ranks among the top five states in both numbers of broiler chickens grown and quantity of meat produced.
Hair Curlers? No Thanks.
Since we started dating 19 years ago, I have no trouble finding things to be thankful about. I’m thankful we are two peas in a pod (most of the time). I’m thankful you moved to Danville just because of me. I’m thankful you don’t complain about life’s little complications because I complain enough for both of us. I’m thankful we have Sophie, and as you say, the most gorgeous, lovable standard poodle on earth. I’m thankful for my family.
Rocking in October
October is always a good month for me but not necessarily great for you. I could be wrong about this, but hear me out. As you know, we both have birthdays in October. For me, it is just another day, I’m one year older, and I consider myself a very lucky man. One, because I’m on the right side of the dirt and two, I have you in my life. The only reason I say that October is a bad month for you is because you never like to tell your age.
Teacher of the Year
It is that dreaded time of the year for me — the end of summer. Yes, I am talking about “back to school” time. When our kids graduated, my assumption was that all my spare time getting my kids ready for the new school year would be a thing of the past. I didn’t know marrying a teacher would constitute those same old routines over and over again. We have shopped for supplies for you.
You Need a Life Folder
Making a will is the last thing anyone wants to do, and this is not a pun. Most of us put it off as long as we can, or we decide right away in life that a will is a must-have product that is needed by family, lawyers, or bankers who come after your estate once you have expired. This talk is not about wills. Sorry to disappoint. This talk is about another choice you should consider making, and the best part of this idea is it needs to be in the same box that has your will. Your will is not enough.
A Few Famous People: The DANVILLE Connection
NANCY ASTOR – Nancy Witcher Langhorne was born in May 1879 at the Langhorne House in Danville, VA. She was an American citizen who moved to England at age 26. She made a second marriage to Waldorf Astor as a young woman in England. After he succeeded to the peerage and entered the House of Lords, she entered politics, in 1919 winning his former seat in Plymouth and becoming the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons.
You Just Blow Me Away
You know, I amnot usually one to complain. I am normally the type of person who gets along with everyone, takes everything in stride, and never makes a big deal about any issue. Sometimes, I get so caught up in making you happy that my own life has to suffer some affliction or discomfort. Today, I need to bring to your attention a situation that we have at home in the bedroom. This has been a concern of mine for some time, but being the gentleman that I am, I have kept silent.
The Crazy World of Bucket Lists
Did I ever tell you about one of the items on my bucket list that I actually accomplished? I know you write about me being lazy, lethargic, non-caring, slow thinking, etc. One of my goals was to be in a movie. I did just that when I appeared in the movie CRAZY PEOPLE with Dudley Moore and Daryl Hannah.
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