A UVM blog Out Croppings: Important crop news from the field!

Planning to grow hemp this season? It’s time to register. Whether you’re growing, processing, or storing hemp, you will need to complete a hemp registration application this season with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets. You can register your entire operation on a single registration form including growing processing, storage and dying. The registration requires you to provide GPS coordinates for the vehicle access points to your site.

For growers, an aerial view map showing the location of indoor or outdoor cultivation areas is also required. The Agency has Guidelines on how to use google maps to create such a map. For personal use, registration is $25, and for commercial growers, the license fee depends on the category and scale of production. See Frequently Asked Questions which include an easy-to-use license fee calculator. Whether you have 1 plant or 1 acre, industrial hemp cannot be grown legally unless you register.

Contact: tel. 802-828-1732 or Agr.hemp@vermont.gov.

Reducing Risk & Slowing the Spread – COVID-19 Info for Farmers & Producers As Vermont moves forward in phases, all operations must follow public health, safety, and social distancing measures to prevent outbreaks and limit the spread of COVID-19. Vermont Agency of Commerce has mandatory requirements which encompass specific measures for face coverings, cleaning and disinfecting, access to soap and water, bathrooms, signage, common areas, occupancy limits, pre-screening of workers, and a designated health & safety officer.

UVM’s New Farmer Covid-19 Information page has links to key resources covering financial assistance, legal issues, marketing, business continuity and other guidance for farmers.

April is here, the temperatures are rising and fields are drying out after a fairly mild winter in Vermont. Winter grain stand look healthy and are starting to grow. Spring nitrogen applications should be applied at green-up, which in many cases is now. It’s also time to plant spring grains.

Spring wheat, barley and oats typically make it in the ground the last few weeks of April or first week of May. An early planting, gives us a real jump-start on the growing season and allows more time for the spring grain to grow vegetatively and build a higher yield potential. Here are some things to keep in mind as you get going with your small grain crops this spring.

Plant as soon as the ground is dry enough to prepare and plant. Fertility can be applied before planting, but nitrogen should not exceed 90 lbs per acre to minimize risk of lodging. If soils in are high in fertility, be cautious in any additional applications. Of course, a soil test will help provide the best guidance on what fertilizer the crop needs.

Spring grain planting dates will vary depending on the crop and time of planting. Early planted grains can be seeded at 80 to 100 lbs per acre. However, if planting dates are delayed into May, seeding rate should be increased to 125 or 150 lbs per acre. Increased seeding rates help to compensate for poor tillering and result in thinner stands due to late seeding. Higher seeding rates can also help suppress weed pressure.

Seeding depth of spring grains should be relatively shallow as long as there is adequate soil moisture. Generally a depth of 1 inch places the seed in the warmest part of the soil and will allow for quicker germination in the early spring.

Variety and species selection are hopefully decisions you made over the winter. Generally both are determined by the market you plan to sell you grains too this summer. However, if you are making some late decisions you can refer to our Small Grain Variety Trial reports for direction.

Most importantly, do not delay planting!

Check our website, www.uvm.edu/extension/nwcrops, for our most up-to-date research reports, trial results, grain webinars, and important or helpful information about the COVID-19 crisis. We know farming doesn’t stop for anything and we’re here to help.

Despite a mild winter with above average temperatures, winter 2019-2020 also saw several cold snaps. Due to the warm weather, there was also less snow ground cover than normal. Snow cover is an excellent insulator, which can help regulate temperature fluctuations and helps forages like alfalfa survive the winter. Older stands are more likely to winterkill, and so are stands with higher soil moisture in the fall. Cutting management also plays a role in winter hardiness of crops like alfalfa – shorter intervals between cuttings increase the risk of winter injury. Stands that are cut later in the fall are at a greater risk of winterkill, because they may not have the time to replenish their stored nutrients before the winter fully sets in. As the weather warms this March and April, it is a good idea to get out in the field and evaluate your forage stands for winter injury.

Uneven growth patterns and slow green up often indicate winter injury. To diagnose damage, you can examine the roots of the plants. To do this, walk diagonally across a field at regular intervals (every 4-5 paces), and dig up several plants 4-6 inches deep with a shovel. Examine the roots. The roots should be firm and the interior color should be white or cream colored. If the roots are soft and the interior yellow to brownish in color, it most likely was winter killed. For alfalfa, the majority of crown buds should be white or pink and firm throughout the bud. It is important to try to inspect as many plants as possible to determine the percentage of your field that was injured.

If your stands are moderately damaged, you can improve stand health and yields by allowing plants to mature longer before the first cutting. This will help them restore needed carbohydrates and continue to produce after the first cutting. If alfalfa was lost in a predominately grass stand, it could be managed for grass. If the alfalfa stand was only partially injured (25 to 50 %) interseeding with a quick germinating forage, such as orchardgrass or perennial ryegrass, could provide additional production. Remember that perennial ryegrass should be considered a short term option since it does not overwinter well in our climate. When dealing with winter injured stands, it is particularly important to adequately fertilize and to control for weed competition.

If your stand is over 50% killed, you might want to consider reseeding. A small grain/field pea mixture will be the best choice if the forage is needed in early/mid-summer. Corn silage will be the best choice for optimizing full season forage production, but at later dates (mid-June to early July), you may want to consider planting a summer annual. A few options include sorghum-sudangrass hybrids, sorghum sudangrass hybrids enhanced with the Brown Mid Rib gene, forage sorghum, or sudangrass. It is important to note that these crops need high temperatures to yield well and may not be the best choice if we are experiencing average to cool temperatures.

More information on managing winter injury in forages can be found in the factsheet: “Evaluating and Managing Forage Stands for Winter Injury” by NWCS, UVM Extension. https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/media/managing-forage-winter-injury.pdf

NWCS has created a summary of online resources and learning opportunities for anyone to access. The full list of resources can be found on our Conferences web page – https://go.uvm.edu/conferences. Here are some of the highlights:

UVM Extension Northwest Crops and Soils Program Agricultural Curriculum– An interactive curriculum for educators of agricultural programs at career centers, technical public high schools, and technical institutes to get students to consider the environmental impacts of farming.

Online courses through eXtension (https://campus.extension.org/)-The UVM Extension Northwest Crops and Soils program has designed a number of online courses that include: An Introduction to Organic Dairy Production is a self-directed course designed for Extension educators and other agriculture service providers, as well as farmers and students who want to better understand certified organic dairy farming. It is made of ten modules on key organic dairy topics.

Webinar series and videos– Watch University of Vermont Extension’s collection of instructional YouTube videos and webinar series that include topics like growing grains in Vermont, hemp & hop production, cover crop implementation strategies, and more at https://www.youtube.com/user/cropsoilsvteam/playlists.

Check out the Conferences web page for the full listing and links to access

The University of Vermont Extension is offering a FREE Webinar Series! This webinar series will discuss current research on cover crops and conservation in various cropping systems, interesting findings, and common obstacles to implementing a successful cover crop and no-till program. Each webinar will be 30 minutes and will end with a 15 minute Q&A session.

Dates & Topics Listed Below: Monday, 3/23/20 9am to 9:45am – Precision Sustainable Agriculture with Steve Mirsky, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service

Thursday, 3/26/20 9am to 9:45am – Cover Crops in the Corn/Soybean Rotation with Peter Tomlinson, Kansas State University, Department of Agronomy

Monday, 3/30/20 9am to 9:45am – Cover Crop Profitability with Rob Meyers, University of Missouri Extension, Agricultural Engineering

Thursday, 4/2/20 9am to 9:45am – No-Till and Cover Crops in Organic Systems with Joel Gruver, Western Illinois University, School of Agriculture

Monday, 4/6/20 9am to 9:45am – No-Till and Cover Crops in Vegetable Systems (Organic Focus) with Natalie Lounsbury, University of New Hampshire, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Thursday, 4/9/20 9am to 9:45am – Stewarding the Birthplace of No-Till with John Young, Young Family Farm, Innovative No-Till Farmer from Herndon, Kentucky

Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) credits are available through online registration or by emailing your CCA number and/or farm name to catherine.davidson@uvm.edu within 2 days of the webinar. Pre-register online at: https://digintoyourday.eventbrite.com.

If you have questions before enrolling, please contact: Heather Darby (heather.darby@uvm.edu) 802-524-6501 Jeff Sanders (jeffrey.sanders@uvm.edu) 802-524-6501 Catherine Davidson (catherine.davidson@uvm.edu) 802-524-6501 Susan Brouillette (susan.brouillette@uvm.edu) 802-524-6501

Visit our Soil Health and Nutrient Management webpage to read about farmers using goCrop Integrated Analysis Tools including Cornell’s whole farm nutrient mass balance calculator and NRCS’s cover crop economics calculator – https://www.uvm.edu/extension/nwcrops/soil-health-and-nutrient-management

Each conference has its own web page including conference details, the flyer or brochure (if completed), the registration site link, and information on sponsoring and/or exhibiting. View all at go.uvm.edu/nwcropsevents

2nd Annual Industrial Hemp Conference  – Thursday, February 20, 2020 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Burlington. go.uvm.edu/2020hempconference

No-Till Cover Crop Symposium – Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at the DoubleTree by Hilton, South Burlington, VT https://www.uvm.edu/extension/agriculture/no_till_cover_crop_symposium

Hop Conference – Friday, February 28, 2020 at the Delta Hotels Marriott Burlington, Burlington, VT. go.uvm.edu/2020hopconference

Organic Dairy Producers Conference – Wednesday, March 11, 2020 at Judd Hall at Vermont Technical College, Randolph, VT.  go.uvm.edu/2020organicdairyconference.

Grain Growers Conference – Tuesday, March 24, 2020 at The Essex Resort & Spa, Essex, VT. go.uvm.edu/2020grainsconference

This information has been shared by UVM Agricultural Risk Management and Crop Insurance Education. Contact information is at the end.

This is the most current information I have on crop insurance for hemp growers. Hemp was added to the Whole Farm Revenue Protection insurance crop list for 2020. Scanning popular press online today I ran across this article in Farm Journal Ag Web, indicating that USDA has a pilot insurance program for 2020 hemp. https://bit.ly/35V2ztd

Here is link to a December 23 USDA RMA press release about the program. This MPCI insurance will be available in certain counties in 21 states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin. As you can see, only a few states in the northeast ‘neck of the woods’. Also, it sounds like it will only be available for certain limited growers: “Producers also must be a part of a Section 7606 state or university research pilot, as authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill, or be licensed under a state, tribal or federal program approved under the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) interim final rule issued in October 2019.” However, they go on to say that in 2021 hemp will be covered under Nursery crop insurance. https://www.rma.usda.gov/News-Room/Press/Press-Releases/2019-News/USDA-Announces-Pilot-Insurance-Coverage-for-Hemp-Growers

It’s such an expensive crop to grow, insurance protection would be a pretty important consideration for many producers.

Jake — Jake Jacobs UVM Agricultural Risk Management and Crop Insurance Education 208 Morrill Hall, 146 University Place University of Vermont Burlington, VT 05405 Email: jake.jacobs@uvm.edu Message phone line: 802-656-7356 Website: http://go.uvm.edu/ag-risk

NEW – There is now an Emergency Winter Ban and Snow-Covered Ground Agricultural Waste Spreading Exemption Effective December 16, 2019 through to December 22, 2019. To utilize the exemption (which can be found on our website), your farm must read and follow the requirements of the exemption to ensure any manure or agricultural waste spreading activities comply with the requirements of the exemption as well as the RAPs.

This emergency exemption will expire at 11:59 PM on December 22, 2019.

This Emergency Winter Ban and Snow-Covered Ground Agricultural Waste Spreading Exemption does not exempt your farm from complying with any other laws or regulations. The Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets will be conducting field investigations across the state to ensure farms are complying with this emergency exemption. Records of all manure or agricultural waste applications must be kept by your farm and be made available for inspection by the Agency.

Please do not hesitate to call the numbers at the bottom of the exemption with any questions.

View our website for the link to the Emergency Winter Ban and Snow-Covered Spreading Exemption document – www.uvm.edu/nwcrops

NEW – There is a statewide Emergency Snow-Covered Ground Agricultural Waste Spreading Exemption.

To utilize the exemption, your farm must read and follow the requirements of the exemption to ensure any manure or agricultural waste spreading activities comply with the requirements of the exemption as well as the RAPs.

This emergency exemption will expire on December 15, 2019.

This Emergency Snow-Covered Ground Agricultural Waste Spreading Exemption does not exempt your farm from complying with any other laws or regulations. The Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets will be conducting field investigations across the state to ensure farms are complying with this emergency exemption. Records of all manure or agricultural waste applications must be kept by your farm and be made available for inspection by the Agency.

Please do not hesitate to call the numbers at the bottom of the exemption with any questions.

View our website homepage for the link to the AAFM Emergency Spreading Exemption, www.uvm.edu/nwcrops