News

Celebrating Retirements - Brian Thayer!

Brian and Diane Thayer met each other while working for A&L Great Lakes, got married, and have been with the company for 34 and 35 (off and on) years respectively. They will retire together at the end of September.

Brian started as an Ag Department Technician in 1986, then became an Environmental Chemist is 1990, and for the last 19 years, he has been the Senior Quality Chemist. His meticulous attention to detail makes him a great fit for this role and he has done a tremendous job.

He says the best part of being part of the A&L Great Lakes team is everyone working together to get the job done every day. His favorite memory from his time here is meeting Diane, of course. They met his first day on the job and were married 2 years later. They now have 2 children and 2 grandchildren, with grandchildren 3 and 4 on the way.

When he retires, he plans to catch a few more fish, hike a few more trails (near and far), and spend more time with his family. He’d also like to develop a new hobby or two.

We wish you the best Brian. You will be missed

Time is Running Out!

It's almost the deadline to submit a picture for our 2021 A&L Great Lakes calendar! We want to see pictures that illustrate what fuels your passion for agriculture and customer service. When you get that picture captured, send it to news@algreatlakes.com along with your name and address. Please submit your pictures in the highest resolution possible before September 15th, 2020. We will then select our favorite pictures, and letting our followers on Facebook vote on their favorite, to be on the cover of the 2021 calendar. Follow us on Facebook for voting details.

 

Photo Credit: Adam Farmer, Mercer Landmark 

Photo criteria 

• Landscape oriented photos preferred, but not required.
• Please share the highest possible resolution photo.
• Avoid company logos and easily identifiable faces.
• No dangerous or illegal activities.

Rules

• Photo submission deadline is September 15th, 2020
• One entry per person for voting, you may submit more than one photo.
• Must be 18 years or older to enter.
• Need not be present to win.
• No purchase necessary.
• Submitting a photo gives A&L Great Lakes permission to use the photo for promotional use.
• Employees of A&L Great Lakes Laboratories, Inc. and their immediate families are not eligible for prizes, but may submit photos for consideration in the calendar.
• Use of images in promotional items does not increase your odds of winning a prize.
• Contest decisions and/or judgments by A&L Great Lakes Laboratories, Inc. are final.

Corn Silage Nitrate Testing

The hot dry conditions throughout our region have raised concerns about the potential for nitrate toxicity in corn chopped for silage. Nitrates have the potential to accumulate in a corn plant under any stressful conditions hinder plant growth. There are many guides, articles, and fact sheets available that discuss the interpretation of the lab data and sampling procedures for corn that has already been chopped, but there is little guidance for sampling the corn prior to harvest.

The most important step in collecting a sample from a standing corn field is that the sample must be representative of the portion of the plant that will be harvested. That means cutting it at the same height as the chopper. Nitrates accumulate primarily in the lower stalk section, so a few inch difference can have a significant impact on your results. Second, the plants that are collected need to be representative of the condition of the field. For example, if a quarter of the field is performing poorly as compared to the rest of the field, a quarter of the plants collected for the sample need to be from that section, three quarters from the good area of the field. A sample should consist of a minimum of 15 plants to best represent the average of the whole area being sampled. The sample also needs to be collected as close to harvest as possible, because nitrate levels can change quickly due to changes in the weather.

Prior to sending the sample to the lab, the plants need to be chopped and thoroughly mixed. This is best accomplished with a lawn chipper shredder.  Once all the plants are chopped and mixed, collect a 1-gallon zip top bag subsample to be shipped to the lab for analysis.

Please note that a Corn Stalk Nitrate Test (CSNT) and a feed nitrate test are very different in the sample collection and will give you very different results. A CSNT involves collecting only an 8-inch section of the lower stalk around black layer. This test is used to evaluate the effectiveness of a nitrogen program and does not necessarily represent a potential for nitrate toxicity.

For more information please see our A&L Great Lakes fact sheet, Nitrate Toxicity in Feed.

Another excellent resource is from the University of Wisconsin Extension, Nitrate Poisoning in Cattle, Sheep, and Goats.

The Ohio State University Extension has also the topic of corn silage harvest in their most recent issue of the C.O.R.N. newsletter.

For any additional questions regarding feed nitrate testing and sampling, feel free to contact your A&L Great Lakes Laboratories agronomist or call the laboratory directly as 260-483-4759. 

Release of New Tri-State Recommendations

The new Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations for Indiana, Michigan and Ohio have been released and more information can be found at https://agcrops.osu.edu/FertilityResources/tri-state_info. There are a couple of key changes.  

• The adoption of the MRTN (Maximum Return to Nitrogen) model that takes both grain and nitrogen price into consideration when determining corn N rates.
• The nitrogen rates for wheat have been updated to reflect recent field trial data.
• Phosphorus and potassium recommendation will now be based on Mehlich-3 (M3) data values.
• Phosphorus and potassium recommendation framework has been altered to remove the drawdown portion of the recommendation set and made buildup rates above crop removal optional to reflect fertility management on rented land.
• The phosphorus critical level has been set at 20 ppm M3 for corn and bean rotation, 30 ppm M3 when wheat or alfalfa are included in the rotation. This keeps the critical level effectively unchanged.
• The potassium critical level has been simplified to 100 ppm M3 for sandy soils with a CEC of 5 meq/100g or less and 120 ppm for soils with a CEC greater than 5. For soils with a CEC of 5 meq/100g or less the maintenance range is 100 ppm to 130 ppm, the maintenance range for those soils with a CEC greater than 5 meq/100g widens from 120 ppm to 170 ppm.  
• The crop removal rates for phosphorus and potassium have been updated to reflect current data.
• Lime recommendations remain the same.

ALGL has been using M3 as a standard method since 1991 and converting the data to equivalent Bray-P and ammonium acetate K values for reporting. Both values have been available and will continue to be available. Rather than making any wholesale changes to data formats, we will be only converting customer data to M3 upon request. If you have any questions on how the change to M3 will impact your data, or need any additional question feel free to contact the lab or your ALGL agronomy representative.    

Tissue Tests are Like a Box of Chocolates?

Have you ever collected a “good” vs. “bad” tissue test only to find that the “bad” sample comes back with equal or possibly higher nutrient levels? When the ALGL agronomy staff reviews tissue test reports this quite common.

For a normal or average corn plant at VT, or tassel emergence, the elements on the tissue test only account for 5 to 10% of the plant’s total dry weight biomass. For an average R3 soybean plant the tissue test only reflects 6 to 10% of the total plant dry matter. So, what is the other 90-95%? Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen mostly in the form of carbohydrates and structural components. A plant is accumulating the combination of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from the atmosphere and soil at a 10x faster rate than those nutrients reported on a tissue test.

Plants manufacture carbohydrates during photosynthesis to be used as energy and the building blocks of the structural components of the plants. A plant that is struggling due to compaction, lack of water, or a host of other factors so that the plant may not be able to assimilate carbon, hydrogen, oxygen at a 10X rate to the other nutrients. As a result, the plant takes up soil nutrients at a relatively greater rate than the assimilation of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen thus causing the percentages and ppm of the soil derived nutrients to increase in the resulting tissue test data.

When the tissue test data from a “good” and “bad” plant are the same, it is showing that the plant issues are most likely not fertility related. The fact that a plant is smaller does not mean that the nutrient concentrations in the tissue tests will be lower.

A simple example. Fort Wayne, Indiana is home to Debrand Fine Chocolate. If you go into their store to buy chocolate, you can custom build a box of chocolates. If you get the 10-piece box and fill it with 2 fruit filled chocolates and 8 caramels, the fruit filled chocolates would comprise 20% of the chocolates in the box. You could also get a 5-piece box with 1 fruit filled chocolate and 4 caramels, resulting in a box containing 20% fruit filled chocolates. While both boxes are comprised of 20% chocolates containing fruit, most likely the larger box of cholates will have a bigger contribution to yield as measured by the size of your waist.

A&L Great Lakes Labs Statement on Covid-19

14 August 2020

A&L Great Lakes Statement on Covid-19

 

As the Covid-19 situation continues to evolve, we wanted to take a moment to update our customers on what we at A&L Great Lakes Labs are doing to ensure that we continue to provide the service that you have come to expect from us.

• Our lobby is open for sample drop off. However, in accordance with the Governor's mask mandate, we ask all visitors to please wear a mask anytime they are in the building. If you choose not to wear a mask, a table is set up within the foyer to leave samples.

• We provide analytical services which are a necessary part of the agricultural supply chain, and are therefore considered essential by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Therefore, we intend to remain open throughout the Covid-19 situation. Please keep tuned to our website banner and this continually updated post for the latest information.

• Our restrooms are closed to the public at this time.

• We will continue to monitor Federal, State, and Local agencies for further information and guidelines to keep our employees safe and healthy in order to better serve our customers.

• We will continue to communicate with carriers such as UPS, FedEx, and the USPS to stay informed of any changes that they may make to their operations that may impact shipments of samples to the lab, and are identifying contingency plans should the need arise.

• We continue to monitor our own inventory of supplies and maintain an ample reserve should a supply chain disruption occur. We are also identifying alternative suppliers for high quality supplies should a disruption in our normal channels occur.

• For customers delivering samples in person, we continue to offer our after hours drop box, and we will be monitoring it frequently during business hours in case customers prefer to maintain social distancing when delivering samples.

• Our sales and professional agronomy staff will still be here to provide technical support and answer any questions that you may have.

• In accordance with President Trump’s guidance on limiting group gatherings, all lab tours are suspended until further notice.

We will update these guidelines as the situation continues to evolve. We will continue to do our best to maintain the high level of service and quality that you have come to expect from ALGL. Thank you for the opportunity to earn your business.

Soil Testing After a Drought

While we have not experienced a drought in 2020, there are areas of our trade area that have been abnormally dry. This article from 2012 does a great job explaining how dry weather conditions can impact soil test results.

There has been a substantial amount of information and speculation published recently regarding how the drought of 2012 may affect soil test results of samples collected during the dry period. This article is an attempt to summarize these facts.

Soil pH: Water pH readings may be 0.1 to 0.6 pH units lower than expected. This is due to a slight increase in soluble salts in the soil solution that haven’t leached into the soil profile. This condition, though, does not alter the buffer pH result so the amount of lime recommended for most samples will not be affected. An exception to this would be sandy soils where the water pH determines the lime recommendation. However, sandy soils are leached more easily so the amount of soluble salts in solution may be much lower than a heavier soil.

Potassium: Soil test levels for potassium may be lower than normal. When soils remain extremely dry for extended periods of time, the moisture that normally keeps the clay latticework open for potassium exchange retracts, capturing the available potassium from solution. This will show up as a reduction in the soil test level. Also, potassium is easily leached from crop residue following harvest. With little rainfall, this potassium reserve could remain in the tissue. One caveat of this, though, is with inadequate moisture to produce normal yields, less potassium may be removed from the soil reserve.

Phosphorus: Soil test levels for phosphorus may be slightly lower than normal. The affect of the dry soil on phosphorus levels isn’t as dramatic as potassium, but less moisture in the soil may lower the soil test readings. The same situation of reduced crop yields, though, may result in less phosphorus being removed from the soil.

Soil sampling technique: It is extremely difficult to sample dry soils. Many times the top one or two inches of the core are compressed enough that some of this material may spill out of the probe. In minimum tillage situations, this could have a dramatic affect on the soil test readings. As of the publication date of this newsletter, hurricane Isaac has deposited a substantial amount of rainfall on much of the Midwest. Soils in the lower half of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio may have enough time to equilibrate moisture levels prior to fall sampling so that some of the drought effects will be negligible. Reduced yields, though, will still be a remnant of decreased nutrients being removed from the soil. This year is one where soil sampling should occur in order to assess the affects of this unusual growing season. Soil sampling technique: It is extremely difficult to sample dry soils. Many times the top one or two inches of the core are compressed enough that some of this material may spill out of the probe. In minimum tillage situations, this could have a dramatic affect on the soil test readings. As of the publication date of this newsletter, hurricane Isaac has deposited a substantial amount of rainfall on much of the Midwest. Soils in the lower half of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio may have enough time to equilibrate moisture levels prior to fall sampling so that some of the drought effects will be negligible. Reduced yields, though, will still be a remnant of decreased nutrients being removed from the soil. This year is one where soil sampling should occur in order to assess the affects of this unusual growing season. 

Not all Corn Nematodes are the Same

While soybean cyst nematodes have been getting most of the fanfare the past few years, corn nematodes are making their debut. While all can be damaging, some are a bit nastier than others. Their is a wide range of acceptable thresholds to treatment among the various species. The chart below gives a range of damage thresholds from several universities. While the numbers vary between sources, the pattern of the more damaging nematodes is constant. Needle and sting nematodes have the greatest potential for damage if detected.

We can analyze soil for all of these species in our N3 soil test package that provides a count for each species of nematodes with damage interpretations. For more information on sampling or sample submission contact your ALGL agronomy representative.

 Sources:

https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/pestcrop/2009/issue18/PandC18.pdf

https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/cropnews/2009/04/quick-facts-about-corn-nematodes

https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C834

https://grains.caes.uga.edu/content/dam/caes-subsite/grains/docs/corn/2019-Corn-Production-Guide.pdf

https://nematode.unl.edu/extpubs/nemakan.htm

https://extension.soils.wisc.edu/wcmc/species-thresholds-and-management-of-corn-nematodes/

https://nematode.unl.edu/belonolaimusspecies.html

 

Low K, B and S in Tissue Samples

Tissue testing is in full swing this summer and at a rapid pace. More growers and agronomists are evaluating tissue tests to learn more about the effectiveness of their fertility programs. There are some common areas of concern arising this year. As the ALGL agronomy staff review and approve tissue test data before delivery to the customer, a trend for low sulfur, potassium, or boron is developing. The calls from growers and agronomists about these nutrients confirm that they are seeing this trend as well.

Tissue tests are very good at validating whether the crop can access the nutrients in the soil. When a tissue test comes back low for a nutrient the first question becomes, is the nutrient in the soil and the plant cannot access it, or is the nutrient deficient in the soil? Therefore, a soil sample, taken in conjunction with a plant tissue sample, is very useful.

One likely reason explaining low tissue test results for these three nutrients is a deficiency in the soil. Our annual average soil test values for these nutrients have been decreasing over the past 20 years. Less nutrient in the soil increases the probability that plants may not be able to access adequate quantities. Potassium soil test levels have been decreasing at an average rate of 0.5 ppm/year over the last 23 years. Sulfur soil test levels (measuring plant available sulfate) has declined at an average rate of 0.5 ppm/year and boron has declined on an average of 0.02 ppm/year over this same 23-year time span. This may not seem like much, but the soil test values of sulfur and boron are approximately half of what they were 20 years ago. These declines are being attributed to crop removal and/or leaching, out pacing nutrient application.

The second challenge leading to limited plant access to nutrients is weather related. Dry soil conditions can reduce the movement and uptake of all three of these nutrients in the soil, and we have seen those conditions in portions of our trade area recently. Reduced root exploration of the soil due to soil compaction is also a contributing factor in many fields. Soil compaction from traffic and tillage of wet soil the past few years have led to compaction layers restricting root growth. Heavy rains can leach both sulfur and boron, and sometimes potassium in specific situations, below the resulting shallow root zone.

Soil testing is valuable tool in ensuring you have the need foundational soil fertility for a productive crop, but tissue testing identifies if the crop can access and utilize this fertility.

Shipping Made Easy

At ALGL, we strive to be a company built on integrity and being easy to work with. The same goes for our shipping program. Rather than focusing on gimmicks and promotional shipping prices we provide cost effective, streamlined, fair, and easy shipping options. Your time is better spent servicing your customers  than on the logistics of shipping samples.

We offer United Parcel Service (UPS) Return Shipping (RS) labels for your shipping convenience. This allows you to take advantage of our significant shipping volume discounts. By following the steps below, you can help ensure that you are getting the best prices and service from our shipping program.

1.    Your Account – You must have an up-to-date, active ALGL account to use our UPS shipping program. Be sure to contact us if any updates need to be made such as contact names, street address, e-mail address, phone number etc.

2.    Order Supplies– We offer 4 convenient boxes for sample shipment. Order the boxes and associated labels online or by calling the lab. You purchase the boxes and we ship them with the labels to you.

3.    Pack Your Samples – Place the samples in the box so that they will not spill in shipment, tape the box shut, and affix the UPS RS label on the box. The box can be part of your usual UPS pickup, dropped off at a UPS pickup location, or you can call UPS to schedule a pickup. There may be a cost associated with a UPS on site pickup, please inquire with your local UPS representative.

4.    Invoice – You are not charged for the UPS RS labels until they are scanned by UPS upon pickup. The cost of the shipment is calculated using our discount, and that amount is transferred to your invoice. The cost of the sample analysis and shipping come to you on one invoice.

UPS RS labels can be printed at any time, and there are no charges associated with the labels until they are used. This means they can be printed in advance and ready to use when you are already to ship. One challenge in printing UPS RS labels too early is that the tracking capabilities for a given label decline 12 – 16 months after creation.

The date of creation can be tracked directly on the label. If you are nearing the expiration date printed on the UPS RS labels, you can request new labels by calling/emailing the lab, calling/emailing your ALGL agronomy sales representative, or ordering via our on-line store at www.algreatlakes.com.