QUIZ – This Week in Agronomy

This week’s quiz has four questions based on field observations and management scenarios in canola this week. Topics include wind, dust, seed-placed fertilizer and seedling disease.

1. We heard this week from a farmer who put the following fertilizer blend in the seed row with canola seed: 15 pounds per acre (lb./ac.)of actual nitrogen, 30 lb./ac. of actual phosphate, 20 lb./ac. of actual potassium and 20 lb./ac. of actual sulphur. Soil conditions were dry. Is this a safe rate of seed-placed fertilizer for canola? 
2. Clear mornings with no wind seem ideal for spraying, but these conditions create what other drift risk?
3. Windy days can also coat weed leaves in dust. This dust can tie up herbicide molecules in the same way that hard water can. What herbicide is particularly vulnerable to dust on leaves? 
4. Seedling diseases can be one reason for missing plants early in the season. Common seedling pathogens are Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium species and Pythium species. Which seedling disease is often the result of all three working together?