News Update
August 24, 2011
2011 Superior Young Beef Producer Award Winners Announced
The 2011 Illinois Superior Young Beef Producers Award Contest was held on Aug. 10 in conjunction with the Illinois State Fair. Twenty 4-H and FFA members from across Illinois competed in this three-phase competition challenging their knowledge of beef production.
Five $1,000 scholarships were presented to the highest-scoring individuals overall. The contest is sponsored by Archer Daniels Midland of Decatur and the Illinois State Fair. The Land of Lincoln Purebred Livestock Breeders Association supplies the individual plaques presented to the scholarship and phase winners.
The top five youth awarded $1,000 scholarships were Michael Ring of Oregon, Seeley Sayre of Arenzville, Ashley McEwen of Bushnell, Ben Kiner of Mendota, and Kendall Shimmin of Roseville.
In the beef management test, Ring, Wade Culver, and McEwen sorted themselves to the top and received plaques for their achievements. In the skill-a-thon phase, Ring, Kiner, and Sayre took home the highest honors.
In the judging competition, Sayre, McEwen, and Eric McClure of Saint Francisville made up the top three.
“This contest provides youth an opportunity to showcase their knowledge of the industry while competing for valuable scholarships to help them pursue their career goals,” said Dan Jennings, University of Illinois (U of I) Extension 4-H livestock specialist.
This year marked the 15th consecutive year for the Superior Young Beef Producers Contest, which has provided participating youth the opportunity to compete for $80,000 in college scholarships since its inception. The purpose of the contest is to create an educational activity that promotes youth development, career development and personal growth through increased knowledge of the beef industry.
Yamaha-ACT Scholarship Program Now Accepting Applications
Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A., is now accepting applications for the 2011-2012 scholarship program that provides financial assistance to members of the National Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT). ACT is a national college student association with more than 350 members located on 17 college and university campuses across the country. ACT’s mission of fostering professional development is at the core of the Yamaha-ACT Scholarship Program, now in its fourth year.
The Yamaha-ACT Scholarship Program is broken out into two individual student scholarships and one chapter scholarship. All three awards are aimed at helping students attend the annual Agricultural Media Summit (AMS), which is the largest gathering of ag media professionals in the country and is the ACT students’ primary career development networking opportunity each year. The conference is hosted by the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA), the Livestock Publications Council (LPC) and the American Business Media Agri-Council — potentially future employers and colleagues of the students.
“Yamaha is proud to help these ag students, but the program is structured so that the ag community might benefit most in the long term,” said Steve Nessl, Yamaha’s ATV/SxS marketing manager. “Within our application process, we are incorporating some basic points on safe, responsible equipment use, and we expect the students will take these important messages into their future careers as professional communicators.”
For the 2010-2011 program, the University of Florida received Yamaha’s chapter award for the third year in a row, while Janell Baum of the University of Illinois and R. Bruce Sargent of the University of Guelph earned the individual scholarships. The University of Florida’s award helped cover costs in bringing four students to the 2011 AMS in New Orleans this year, while the individual scholarships covered all travel and accommodations costs, plus more, for both Baum and Sargent. The 2012 AMS is scheduled to take place in Albuquerque, N.M., Aug. 4-6.
Applications are judged based on merit, need and quality of submission materials by a review committee consisting of Yamaha representatives and members of the AAEA and the LPC. The 2011-2012 application process will run through the end of March and winners will be announced in late April 2012. More information and guidelines, along with the application form, can be found online at www.nactnow.org.
Drought-Stressed Corn Needs Timely Harvest
To Avoid Stalk Lodging, Ear Drop
Much of the dryland corn crop currently being harvested in southeast and south central Kansas has been subjected to severe drought stress during a good portion of the growing season, said Kraig Roozeboom, K-State Research and Extension crop production specialist. Under these conditions, harvest may present some challenges.
“Where corn has been under drought stress, there is increased likelihood for stalk lodging and dropped ears, among other concerns. In this situation, it is especially important that corn is harvested in a timely manner and with a well-adjusted combine,” Roozeboom said.
Droughty conditions, especially during grain fill, can predispose corn to a number of stalk rots, which in turn may result in stalk lodging, said Doug Jardine, K-State Research and Extension plant pathologist.
“Stalk lodging in corn occurs when the stalk weakens and breaks at some point below the ear. We often find stalk rot disease organisms — such as charcoal rot, Fusarium, Gibberella, anthracnose, and others — on corn with stalk lodging,” Jardine said.
Although stalk rot is often the ultimate cause of lodging, in most cases, the stalk rot diseases were only able to infect the plants because other factors predisposed the plants to disease infection, he said. Such factors include:
- Hybrid differences in stalk strength or stalk rot susceptibility. Some hybrids have genetically stronger stalks than others.
- Poor root growth and other stresses. Cold, waterlogged soils early in the season; severe drought; and soil compaction all can result in small, inadequate root systems. In such cases, the roots may not provide enough water and nutrients to support carbohydrate production. When carbohydrate production is below normal during any part of the growing season, the ears will continue to take what they need during grain fill, which can leave the stalks depleted even under average yield conditions.
- Poor leaf health. Any factor that results in poor leaf health will reduce carbohydrate production during the season. If overall carbohydrate reserves in the plants are low when grain fill begins, stalk integrity may suffer as the available supply of carbohydrates moves into grain production. Stay green characteristics in hybrids are highly correlated to stalk rot resistance and reduced lodging.
- High populations. Plants can become tall and thin when populations are too high, which can result in thin stalks with inadequate strength. Plant-to-plant competition for light, nutrients and water enhances the competition for carbohydrates between the stalk and ear within the plant, thus reducing the vigor of the cells in the stalk and predisposing them to invasion by stalk rot.
- Nutrient imbalances and/or deficiencies predispose corn plants to stalk rot and stalk lodging. Both potassium and chloride deficiency have been shown to reduce stalk quality and strength, and stalk rot resistance. High nitrogen levels coupled with low potassium levels increase the amount of premature stalk death, and create an ideal situation for stalk rot and lodging. Soil chloride levels should be maintained above 20 pounds per acre.
- Corn rootworm and corn borers. Damage caused by corn rootworm and the European corn borer can predispose the corn plant to invasion by stalk rotting organisms, as well as lead to outright yield loss.
- Mid-season hail damage. Similar to the damage caused by insects, the physical damage caused by mid-season hail can set up the plant for invasion by stalk rotting organisms. Stalk bruising and the resulting internal damage may also physically weaken corn stalks, making them more likely to lodge later in the season.
Ear drop is another concern where corn has been under drought stress, Jardine said.
“The ear shank (stem that attaches the cob to the stalk) may not develop normally in stressed conditions,” he said. “Also, rapid drydown may result in brittle tissue where the ear attaches.”
A “pinched shank” or constriction on one side of the shank may occur in some cases, he added. “This is usually associated with missing kernels at the base of the ear on the same side as the pinch,” he said.
With these problems, there can be hybrid differences, Jardine said. Some hybrids may have a smaller-diameter shank attachment.
Ear drop may also be due to disease organisms, he added.
“Fusarium stalk rot (pink stalk rot) may infect the ear shank, causing deterioration of the tissues and greater numbers of dropped ears,” Jardine said. Other concerns with drought-damaged corn include low test weights and aflatoxin, Roozeboom said.
If aflatoxin levels are high, storage may be a concern, Jardine said.
“Aflatoxin levels may increase in storage if the corn is held very long at moisture levels above 14%,” he added. “Growers intending storage for more than a week or two should have their corn tested for aflatoxin. Corn testing above 100 parts per billion should probably not be stored long-term.”
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