Category: Uncategorized

Utrisha N Use on Small Grain Silage

Utrisha N from Corteva Biologicals is an OMRI certified dry powder of Methylobacterium symbioticum, a bacterium that enters the plant and takes nitrogen from the atmosphere for the plant to use. It comes in 50 ounces packages that will treat 10 acres (5 oz. per acre). It is mixed with water and sprayed with a minimum of 10 gallons of water per acre.

Utrisha N Product Information on Corteva Biologicals website

On April 4th I applied the Utrisha N on triticale being grown for silage (picture below).  I wanted to see if Utrisha N would increase silage protein when applied late in the season (preboot to boot stage).  The Utrisha N was being applied by a commercial rig as a liquid and I marked off a sizeable area that was not treated to be able to harvest as an untreated check.

I took two harvests from the plots (2 plots with 2 replications), one early harvest on April 18 and one late harvest on May 3rd. I did not take a yield from each plot since the Utrisha N was applied after vegetative growth had ceased and we were into grain production. The cost of organic protein sources can mean a lot of extra money spent on organic grain when there could be a cheaper source! Forages are always a cheaper option for both energy and protein and they help stimulate milk production. But they must be high quality to fit in a milking cow ration.

The longer the plants were in the field and continued to mature to grain, the overall crude protein % went down (typical, with maturity). It is amazing how quickly overall crude protein drops with maturity as seen by the untreated area. But the Utrisha protein reduction was less with time than the untreated area and more than paid for the Utrisha N treatment and application at $20 per acre!!

Two More USDA Programs

Are you a producer transitioning to organic or maybe you already grow a certified organic grain or feed crop? Are those crops covered with Federal crop insurance? If the answer is yes, you can now get premium assistance from the USDA for the 2023 reinsurance year through the Transitional and Organic Grower Assistance (TOGA) Program. It’s offered by the USDA’s Risk Management Agency, and it can reduce your overall crop insurance premium bills, and help you continue to use an organic agricultural system.

Eligible organic grain and feed crops under the TOGA program are: alfalfa seed, barley, buckwheat, canola, corn, cultivated wild rice, dry beans, dry peas, flax, forage production, forage seeding, fresh market sweet corn, grain sorghum, hybrid corn seed, hybrid popcorn seed, hybrid sorghum seed, hybrid sweet corn seed, millet, oats, crops insured under the Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage policy, peanuts, popcorn, rice, rye, safflower, sesame, silage sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers, sweet corn, triticale, and wheat.

You will automatically receive the premium assistance on your billing statements for the 2023 reinsurance year, which covers applicable policies with sales closing dates from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023.

Since there is no enrollment paperwork, the premium assistance will automatically apply to those eligible insurance policies with July or August sales closing dates that have passed.

More information is available on this website: TOGA

USDA to Provide Aid to Organic Dairy Producers for Marketing

 Assistance to Help Organic Dairy Producers Cover Increased Costs Farm Service Agency (FSA) is making $104 million available to organic dairy operations to assist with projected marketing costs in 2023, calculated using their marketing costs in 2022.

FSA will begin accepting applications for ODMAP on May 24, 2023. Eligible producers include certified organic dairy operations that produce milk from cows, goats and sheep.

More information the dairy market program is available on this website: ODMPA

Organic Cost Share

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) provides organic producers and handlers with financial assistance every year to reduce the cost of organic certification. The program reimburses producers and handlers for a portion of their paid certification costs. Once certified, organic producers and handlers are eligible to receive reimbursement for 75 percent of certification costs for program year 2023, up to a maximum of $750 per certification scope—crops, livestock, wild crops, handling, and State Organic Program fees. As you all know this is an increase from $500 in previ0us years to $750. 

According to the 2021 USDA Organic Survey released this past December 2022, only about 20% of the organic farmers in Texas ever request this reimbursement of certification costs!  That amounts to $240,000 never claimed by Texas producers for organic expenses – every year. I am trying to figure out a way for the Texas A&M AgriLife Organic program to apply for your “cost share” reimbursement if you don’t want it. Just think of all the organic research, educational programs and farm visits we could do!!!!

USDA has $75 Million for Organic Producer Grants!

The date has been extended to August 8, 2023! Also go to the Grant Info page to get more information. I tried to put everything I can find on that page….

That’s right! I consider these mostly organic producer/handler grants and what is unique is that they pay for capital improvements.  That rarely happens in grant programs. The program focuses on building and expanding capacity for certified organic production, aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, distribution, and development of consumer markets. There are 3 types of projects:

Market Development and Promotion – Developing or expanding commercial markets for generic (non-branded) organic commodities, producer and/or consumer education, and product development for underutilized organic commodities.

Processing Capacity Expansion – New or expanded aggregation, processing, storage, marketing, and distribution mechanisms for organic commodities to create a path to market for producers, including purchase and installation of equipment.

Simplified Equipment Only – purchase equipment to expand capacity for processing, aggregation, and distribution of organic products to create markets for producers.

Grants for Market Development or Processing Capacity are from $100,000 to $3 million and do require a 50% match.  The Simplified Equipment Only grants are up to $100,000 and do not require a match.  Grant matches can include your labor and materials and so don’t necessarily mean CASH! More information is found here: Organic Market Development Grant Page

Pesticide Drift Issues Can Hurt Organic Growers

Over the past few months, I have had a number of questions about pesticide drift onto organic fields, pesticide applicators who want to know where organic fields are located, organic growers who want pesticide applicators to know about organic fields, and conventional growers who want to know where organic fields are located.  That is a lot of information to keep track of but there may be a system!

I reached out to FieldWatch and Curt Hadley who is Business Development Manager for Field Watch and is a great contact for what they do.  In the process of visiting with Curt about Field Watch and how it might benefit organic growers in Texas he quickly said, “I need to write this down and make it available to your growers!” Here is his thoughts….

“How New Areas Can Approach the Need for FieldWatch Registries”

by Curt Hadley

We are often asked how new states / provinces / areas join FieldWatch and bring the registries to their areas. With 24 US states, Washington DC and 1 Canadian Province in Saskatchewan in the registry network we could tell you that they all joined the same – that would be far from the truth! The fact is that there are many ways that states / provinces / areas have joined and brought the registries to their respective areas, but there is one common thread……just click this link to go to the website and read Curt’s article (How New Areas Can Approach the Need for FieldWatch Registries – FieldWatch)

As the Extension Organic Specialist, I would like to know if this is something I need to help organize for Texas and Texas organic producers. I am willing, but I do need to hear from you to make it happen.  Bob

Possible Organic Rice Fungicide for Brown Spot and Narrow Brown Leaf Spot

Gowan applies for 24c registration in Texas.

Recently I was contacted by Gowan to provide support as they apply to the Texas Department of Agriculture for a 24c Special Local Need Registration for Badge X2 fungicide.  The product already has a label and OMRI Certification, but it does not have a label use for organic rice in Texas.  If approved this takes care of that issue and we are in hopes that Badge X2 fungicide will get approval for use in this rice season.

According to Gowan, “Badge® X2 is an OMRI listed, patented, dry formulation of copper hydroxide and copper oxychloride.  The copper hydroxide releases copper ions fast for immediate plant protection, while the copper oxychloride slowly releases copper ions for extended residual control PLUS excellent wash-off resistance for the best protection possible during and after rains.”

The 24C Special Local Need registration will for applications of Badge X2 for control of both Brown Spot (Cochliobolus miyabeanus page 79 in the 2023 Rice Handbook) and Narrow Brown Leaf Spot (Cercospora janseana page 78 in the 2023 Rice Handbook)

This link will take you to a proposed 24c label for using Badge X2 in organic rice. Badge X2 Organic Rice Fungicide This label is not approved yet! But it will help you better understand the product and use rates. This is a link to information from a test that Dr. Shane Zhou conducted at the Beaumont Rice Research Center. Click to see study results

Brown spot, caused by Cochliobolus miyabeanus (pictured above), is one of the most common diseases of rice in Texas. The disease is present in seedlings and young and matured plants. The fungal pathogen attacks the coleoptiles, leaves, leaf sheaths, branches of the panicle, glumes, and grain. Although the disease is present at all rice growing stages, it does not necessarily cause significant economic losses. Significant yield losses can occur due to prolonged extremely wet weather, when unfavorable soil conditions such as N deficiency occurs, or when the pathogen attacks panicles. Brown spot can attack seedlings, causing seedling blight. Lesions on leaves can be found throughout the growing season. The pathogen typically produces circular to oval lesions. The lesions vary in size and color. On young leaves, spots are small, dark brown to reddish-brown. On older leaves, spots are relatively large and have a light brown to grey center surrounded by a reddish-brown margin and a gold halo. The lesions may coalesce, killing large areas of infected leaves. Brown spot is usually common in main and ratoon crops and can become severe as plants approach maturity. Symptoms on leaves, leaf sheaths, and hulls are similar. Symptoms also appear on glumes, causing black discoloration. The disease can reduce the number of grain per panicle and the weight of kernels.

Narrow brown leaf spot (also called Cercospora leaf spot) is caused by the fungus Cercospora janseana. The severity of the disease has increased over the years, and it is now considered one of the most important rice diseases in Texas. The disease tends to be more severe at late plantings and in the ratoon crop, causing premature ripening and reducing yield and milling quality.
Generally, the disease is more severe in the ratoon crop than in the main crop.
The fungus attacks the leaves, sheaths, internodes, panicle branches and glumes. On leaf blades, it causes short, linear, narrow, brown lesions that are parallel to the leaf veins. As plants approach maturity, leaf spotting can greatly increase on the more susceptible varieties and result in severe leaf blighting and premature death. Infection of the leaf sheaths results in a large, brown blotch or “net blotch” caused by the browning of the leaf veins. The fungus also can cause a “neck blight,” where the internodal area above and below the node at the base of the panicle becomes light brown to tan. The affected area dies and the kernels in the lower portion of the panicle fail to fill. Low nitrogen levels increase the severity of this disease (a real issue for organic rice producers!).

As more information is made available we will make it available to organic rice producers. As with any OMRI approved organic product you will need to check with your organic certifier before applying to your organic crop.