Congratulations to our 2024 Yield Contest Winners!

This year Horizon Resources hosted its ever first yield contest to celebrate our member customers and highlight the yield potential in our growing environment. While we started out with good moisture in the spring, this season was not without its challenges and our hope is that we can learn from each other to manage our way through those situations as best we can.

Modeled after the National Wheat Foundation yield contest, fields had to be a minimum of 100 acres in size and the harvested crop had to meet baseline quality metrics. The crop categories were dryland Hard Red Spring Wheat, dryland durum, and irrigated HRSW. The test weight minimum was 58 lb/bu and protein needed to be at or above 13%. To qualify, contestants had to provide their field legal description and size, yield, and harvest moisture along with grain samples to determine quality. Winners received a new Traeger Ironwood XL valued at $1,995.

Thank you to all of our member customers who participated! The more folks who join in, the better the contest, so we appreciate everyone who took part.

 

2024 Contest Winners

Dryland Durum—Mitch Lundby

Mitch Lundby is a customer of our Zahl agronomy location and his winning durum yield was 70.1 bu/ac at 13.5% moisture. Congratulations Mitch!
 

Dryland HRSW—Logan and Mike Kjos

Logan and Mike are customers of our Fairview agronomy location and their winning yield was 49.7 bu/ac at 13.5% moisture. They grew McCloud spring wheat and planted on 5/2/24 at a rate of 1.2 million seeds per acre. The previous crop was lentil. Seed was treated with Warden Cereals WR2 at the Fairview agronomy location. Nitrogen fertility was a blend of urea (70%) and ESN (30%) applied at a rate of 250 lb/ac total product in April. A 100 lb/ac mix of S10 (85%) and potash (15%) was applied in furrow with the seed. For weed control they started with RT3, Saddleup and Class Act for a burn down followed by Everest and Carnivore in crop along with Evito for disease control and Lambda Cy for insect pest management. Thank you to Logan and Mike for sharing their winning management strategy and congratulations to you both!

 

Irrigated Hard Red Spring Wheat—Steve and Joe Mortenson

Steve and Joe are customers of our Williston and Fairview agronomy locations and their winning yield was 90 lb./ac at 13.5% moisture. They grew LCS Trigger HRSW planted on 4/25/24 at a seeding rate of 145 lb./ac. Nitrogen was spread in the fall at a rate of 170 lb. N/ac and worked in after application. Starter fertilizer (S10) was applied at a rate of 80 lb./ac total product. Propiconazole (Group 3) fungicide applied was for early season foliar disease management. An 11% nitrogen liquid solution was applied in crop.  Thank you to Joe and Steve for sharing their management practices and congratulations on your win!



We hope our winners are excited to fire up their brand-new Traeger grills just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday! If you’re feeling a little bit of grill envy, head over to the Williston Horizon Resources C-Store and treat yourself to an early Christmas gift. Enjoy a 20% discount on all in-stock Traeger grills and accessories, now until December 13th. Horizon Resources Retail Division Manager Chad Ellis shares two of his favorite holiday recipes that he prepares on his Traeger below.

The Best Smoked Turkey

Creamy Green Bean Casserole with Shallots


 

 

Green Lentil Variety Selection

While CDC Richlea has dominated for decades as a high yielding medium green lentil, it is susceptible to foliar diseases like Ascochyta, Anthracnose and Stemphylium blight. Newer genetics provide improved resistance to these diseases. For example, Avondale is a medium green lentil that matches or exceeds yield of CDC Richlea, while providing resistance to Stemphylium blight. Developed by the USDA-ARS in Pullman, WA, Avondale was bred as a replacement for CDC Richlea and also retains its color better in storage.

BASF partnered with the Crop Development Centre (CDC) in Sasktechewan to develop herbicide tolerant lentils, and today, there are 21 different Clearfield ® varieties available. One of these is CDC Impress, a medium green lentil that performs similarly to CDC Richlea in MSU trials. While it remains susceptible to Anthracnose, it is moderately resistant to Ascochyta. In trials at the NDSU Hettinger REC, CDC Impress yielded an average of 1642 lb/ac over two years where the trial mean was 1713 lb/ac (2017/2018).

Many of the recent Clearfield variety releases are in the large green category, and seed of these varieties might be easier to source than CDC Impress. For example, CDC Grimm is moderately resistant to Anthracnose race 1 and Ascochyta while maintaining high yields. There are local markets available for large greens, and in some cases, they may command a premium.

Genetic disease resistances offers a foundational level of protection, regardless of the growing season’s challenges. As new genetics continue to emerge, they provide valuable tools for farmers, and it makes sense to invest in the best genetics available. For a complete list of Clearfield® lentil varieties check out the BASF website.
 
 
Dr. Audrey Kalil
Agronomist/Outreach Coordinator
 

 

Fertilizer Update from the Mosaic Company

Last week, Sherry Koch, Senior Technical Sales Manager at the Mosaic Company, visited Williston and delivered an insightful update on sulfur and potassium fertility, along with valuable information about the MicroEssentials® S10 product. If you weren’t able to attend, here is a quick recap of what you need to know.

DAP and MAP have been widely used for decades to improve crop phosphorous nutrition. In the past we could rely on sulfur from the environment, but due to clean air regulations, sulfur in the atmosphere has decreased. As a result, sulfur deficiency is becoming an increasing issue for our crops. While we don’t want to revisit the days of acid rain, it is essential to address this deficiency through fertilization. Although sulfur can be blended with MAP or DAP, the MicroEssentials® S10 product offers to significant advantages over this blending approach.

First, every particle of S10 contains the full analysis of nitrogen, phosphorous and sulfur. This ensures an even distribution of these nutrients across your field. In contrast, blends can have varying particle sizes, leading to settling in trucks or planters during transport. By the time you reach the end of the field, the nutrient distribution in your tank may have changed, resulting in uneven fertilizer application.

Second, S10 has both elemental sulfur and sulfate on each particle. While sulfate is highly plant-available, it can be lost through leaching. Elemental sulfur is more stable but breaks down slowly. By having both forms of sulfur available in each particle, S10 provides the benefits of both, offering a stable sulfur supply throughout the growing season. If used every year, it is also possible to build soil sulfur.

To dive deeper into fertility management, listen to Sherry and Horizon Resources Agronomist Sara Erickson on the latest episode of the “On the Horizons” podcast.



 

Liberty Link Canola Variety Selection

If you want to plant a Liberty Link variety we have options available from CropPlan and BrettYoung along with your traditional InVigor® line up. BrettYoung has the 7204LL and Croplan® has CP7130LL along with the newer CP7250LL. So how do these compare?

In the 2023 NDSU Hettinger Research Extension Center (REC) variety trial, BY7204LL, CP7250LL and InVigor® L340PC all yielded around 2500 lb/ac.

CP7130LL was evaluated alongside the entire InVigor® line up at the Minot North Central REC in 2022, and they yielded similarly in the 2,000 lb/ac range.

Even in the higher yield environment of Northeast ND, the Langdon REC compared CP7250LL to the InVigor® line up, and with the exception of L233P, yields were similar.

The chart below is yield data from the 2024 Minot North Central REC comparing all of the above varieties. The lowest yielding variety (InVigor® LR344PC) is in orange and the highest yielding varieties are in green. Varieties in yellow were not as low yielding as the LR344PC but still significantly lower than those in green.

 
 
These same varieties were in the 2024 Langdon trials where they were not significantly different in terms of yield, and the trial mean was 2912 lb/ac. Overall, the BrettYoung  Croplan® and InVigor® Liberty Link line up seem to perform similarly in terms of yield across the North Dakota trials and from year to year we don’t see a lot of difference. The limitation of variety trial data is that they are managed on a small scale and most likely managed ideally. Those who need a little more flexibility in the harvest window might lean towards an InVigor® variety.

If you are choosing among the InVigor® varieties, the L333CP and L340CP combine appropriate maturity for the Williston area and standability. As you move north to the Canadian border you can consider L350PC which is a later maturing variety also rated strong for standability. Among the two Croplan® varieties the CP7250LL has the better pod shatter rating, where the CP7130LL has the better heat/drought tolerance rating. As we are never quite sure what the growing season will bring us, it might be a good idea to grow multiple varieties on your farm and not put all of your eggs in one basket.

We do have our early seed booking deadlines coming up so make sure to reach out to your Horizon Resources location and get your seed ordered to qualify for discounts.

InVigor® - December 10th, 2024
Croplan® - December 31st, 2024
BrettYoung - December 31st, 2024
 
 
Dr. Audrey Kalil
Agronomist/Outreach Coordinator

 

Chloride Fertility in Wheat

In a durum and wheat fertility program, much of the focus goes to nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (sometimes), sulfur, but another notable nutrient to add to your list is chloride. Chloride is considered a micronutrient and is an essential element for plant growth, without it plants would not live. Chloride has a role in a suite of plant functions, including nutrient transport, water movement into vacuoles of cells, and stomatal regulation, among others.

Chloride deficiency is said to increase a plant’s susceptibility to fungal pathogens, reduce drought tolerance, and in some cases cause leaf spotting not related to pathogen infection (physiological leaf spotting). The best way to know if you are low in chloride is to take a tissue or soil sample; if soil in the 0-24’ depth is below 40 pounds per acre or plant tissues are 0.15% or lower, a yield response to added chloride is a reality.

Potash (KCl) is the most economically available source of chloride at approximately 50% chloride. Kansas State University has done some work with varying levels of soil chloride and crop response and has developed general recommendations for chloride applications that can be found in publication MF2570. But keep in mind that the KSU recommendations are based on a broadcast application of chloride to get those responses. This means that banded applications with starter fertilizer will provide a more efficient delivery of chloride and in turn less would be needed.

So, to keep a chloride recommendation simple, apply 5-10 pounds of chloride (10-20 pounds potash) per acre with your starter if soil tests fall below the 40-pound threshold.

Kyle Okke
Crop Consultant, CCA