BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Helping farmers be proactive in managing their crops for optimal yield is the purpose behind field days at WinField’s Answer Plots.

"It’s a backdrop to educate customers about what’s going on, what’s happened this season up to this point in the system and what we can do from this point forward to try to protect and enhance the options of what’s already happened," said John Smith, an agronomist with WinField Solutions, during a field day July 16 in Bowling Green.

He also provides advisory services and technical support for Sunrise and Trupointe cooperatives. One session presented information on disease and insect identification "and taking corrective action, making decisions on where and how to apply fungicides and insecticides," he said.

Another session on managing soybeans looked at crop stages and "differences in what has been done and how those are manifesting at this point in time."

The first session of the day looked at managing nutrient runoff such as phosphorous, by using cover crops to hold nutrients in the soil, a topic of particular interest in northwestern Ohio.

"It’s tremendously important because of the phosphorous issue in Lake Erie watershed," he said. "We had a conversation about the regulations that are now in place regarding phosphorous management and how to comply with reducing runoff of phosphorous into the Lake Erie."

One method of reducing runoff is cover crops. "One of the things we talk about is the advantages of cover crops," Smith explained. "But we also look at the disadvantages and management issues that they add. Not everybody talks about that and increased management."

Another session talked about weed control in glyphosate-resistant weeds such as mare’s tail, pig weed and Palmer amaranth. "A little higher level of herbicide management is required than Roundup followed by more Roundup," he said. "We have recommendations for mare’s tail that work."

Pig weed is difficult to control because the seeds can germinate for long periods of time through the growing season, he said.

"It required a very high level of management in order to achieve successful control," he said. "It’s not in the Bowling Green area today, but in southern Ohio.

"We’re being very proactive trying to create a plan to control this weed before it becomes well established and infects a lot of acres. We’re trying to be very proactive and delay the introduction of this weed into the marketplace if at all possible – and, more important, slow down the spread of the size of the infestation.

"It’s an extremely competitive weed," he said. "Even with several herbicide applications, we’re still getting problems."

Another session, led by Smith, talked about the use of optimum management practices for corn and soybeans, compared to "common acres."

"It requires a higher level of management," he said.

In addition to the usual stages of growing crops, he said optimum management includes using starter fertilizer, using herbicides and pesticides as needed and other management techniques to optimize yield. The test plot is based on the idea, and every 12 rows of the same hybrid compares the two methods – the higher level and a traditional level of management.

Management techniques are shown in addition to other comparisons, such as studies on optimal seed population and row width. For example, Smith said studies have shown that a 40,000 population of corn seed in 20-inch rows provide above-average yield. In soybeans, he said 140,000 seeds in 20-inch rows seems to be optimal.

"We’re actually getting optimal yields from soybean populations of less than we would have recommended a few years ago," he said. "From a management standpoint, I can’t manage final stand, but I can manage seed drop."

Smith said he gets similar results as researchers from Purdue University, although their methods differ. "Our numbers are pretty consistent," he said.

He works cooperatively with university extension researchers to compare notes and test results. "They’re publishing their data so it’s available to the public," he pointed out.

During the past 4-5 years of good farm profits, Smith said farmers have been willing to spend a little more money on corn varieties. "With these new varieties, if you add more management to, you get more yield," he said. "Soybeans are a little more challenging because they have not responded to increased management the same way corn has."

He is hoping better genetics will help with that challenge.

Another benefit to producers has been the R7 satellite imagery tool that helps producers see their land from a bird’s-eye view and helps maximize precision farming.

Smith, who started working with WinField in 1997, helped create the Answer Plot field demonstration system. "Plots have been established in Ohio since 1999," he said. The program has expanded, and today there are seven in Ohio.

"All the Ohio locations have the same chemistry treatment being applied," Smith said. "The only difference is in northern Ohio we have early maturity varieties, compared to a fuller-season set of hybrids."