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AGRICULTURE
Soil
temperature should dictate spring planting
Jeneen
Wiche
Tips from the weekend gardener
Two things that can
set you back in the vegetable garden from the start: poorly prepared
soil and seedlings set out too early. Soil temperature has a great
deal to do with how well your crops germinate, establish and produce.
Because we don’t live in the soil (for some of us I suppose
this could be debated), we are not as tuned in to the importance
of soil temperature; sure, we know ambient air temperature and
once it is above 65 degrees something in our brains is triggered
and we want to start our vegetable garden straight away…be
patient for some crops.
Cool season crops are out: potatoes, onions, leeks, and some greens.
But it is still too early for tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, squash
and other summer crops. The fact of the matter is that certain
seeds simply will not germinate until soil temperatures reach
70, 80, or 90 degrees.
Because tomatoes are likely the most popular summer vegetable
(and the one that typically gets planted too early in some gardens),
this example may be useful. Tomatoes are picky about soil and
ambient air temperature. Research conducted by the USDA-Agricultural
Research Station in Urbana, Illinois revealed some interesting
facts. Anything below 55 degrees screws up the circadian clock
of the plant.
Once the circadian clock is discombobulated the tomato’s
ability to photosynthesize during the day and process the starch
into sugar at night is delayed within the regular 24-hour cycle
of the day. The photosynthetic metabolism of a plant that has
been subjected to nighttime temperatures below 50 degrees starts
to photosynthesize later in the day and the processing of the
starch starts later in the night and the whole cycle gets displaced
to the point that the plant languishes.
One sign of cold stress for a tomato plant is purple-tinged leaves,
I have had plants with purple tinged-leaves ... they look robust
and healthy but they never produced much. It seems, too, that
temperatures below 55 degrees also renders the pollen of a tomato
flower useless (high heat will do this, too) – fertilization
of the flower, no tomato.
The reality is that gardens are excited to get gardening in the
spring so how do we effectively get everything we want: an early
start, healthy plants and a good harvest. There are ways to plant
early and ensure that you keep your plants warm. Heat the soil,
first, by putting down black plastic. Use a cleverly constructed
cold frame system out of some household items. You can create
your own “wall-of-water” heating device by filling
gallon jugs with water and lashing them together in a circle around
your plants (or you can buy the pre-made plastic “wall-of-water”
device). The water will heat during the day and release the warmth
overnight, keeping your tomato plant warm.
You can also select several tomato varieties that have been bred
for northern climates for your first round of planting. Heirloom
varieties include many with origins in Eastern Europe, which is
not surprising. Cold hardy varieties from Russia include “Caspian
Pink,” “Russian Black Trifele” (also called
“Japanese Black Trifele”), “Alaska,” and
“Russian Black;” and from Czechoslovakia, “Stupice.”
There are also some hybrids bred out of Oregon State for gardeners
plagued with beautiful weather all the time. The cool nights in
the Northwest do make it difficult to get a good tomato crop,
“Oregon Star,” “Oregon Spring” and “Siletz”
prove cold-hardy and are early producers.
Market
Report
Owenton
Livestock Exchange, March 21
Last week: 861; previous week: 938. Compared to the previous week:
slaughter cows and slaughter bulls weak to 2.00 lower; feeder
steers under 600 lb. 1.00 to 4.00 higher, over 600 lb. 2.00 to
4.00 lower; feeder heifers 2.00 to 5.00 lower.
Slaughter cows:
Breakers: 75-80 percent lean, 900-2,035, 42.00-47.50; high-dress,
48.50-53.00.
Boners: 80-85 percent lean; 950-1,445, 40.50-45.00; low-dress,
39.50.
Lean: 85-90 percent lean; 875-1,515, 34.00-39.50; 650-770, 21.00-28.00.
Slaughter Bulls:
#1: 1,765-2,025, 78-81 carcass boning percent; 52.00-55.50; ind.
82 carcass boning percent; 58.50.
#2: 1,480-1,750, 75-78 carcass boning percent; 44.50-50.00.
Feeder Steers:
Medium and Large #1-#2: 200-300, 128.00; 300-400, 116.00-131.00;
400-500, 114.00-126.00; 500-600, 110.00-126.00; 600-700, 98.00-107.00;
700-800, 93.00-94.00; 800-900, 88.00-91.10; groups: 55 head, 894
lb., 91.10 blks/charx.
Medium and Large #2: 500-600, 95.00-113.00.
Large #1-#2: 400-500, 110.00; 500-600, 103.00; 1,000-1,100, 84.00.
Small and Medium #1-#2: 200-300, 124.00; 300-400, 108.00-121.00;
400-500, 99.00-117.00.
Holstein Steers:
Large #3: 200-300, 105.00; 300-400, 94.00-108.50; 400-500, 88.00-90.00;
400-500, 69.00, thin; 500-600, 84.00.
Feeder Heifers:
Medium and Large #1-#2: 200-300, 99.00-113.00; 300-400, 101.00-111.50;
400-500, 95.00-109.00; 500-600, 92.00-99.50; 600-700, 87.00-92.00;
700-800, 78.00-85.00; 800-900, 77.50-84.00; groups, 20 head, 468
lb., 105.50 mixed; 35 head, 678 lb., 92.00 blks/charx.
Medium and Large #2: 200-300, 109.00; 300-400, 97.00-105.00; 400-500,
96.00-103.00; 500-600, 85.00.
Large #1-#2: 300-400, 90.00; 400-500, 93.50-102.00; 500-600, 81.00-93.00;
600-700, 83.00.
Small and Medium #1-#2: 200-300, 99.00-103.00; 300-400, 92.00-95.00;
400-500, 91.00-99.00; 500-600, 79.00-90.50; 600-700, 84.00.
Feeder Bulls:
Medium and Large #1-#2: 300-400, 112.00-126.00; 400-500, 105.00-126.00;
500-600, 98.00-123.00; 600-700, 88.00-106.00; 700-800, 78.00-93.50;
800-900, 77.00-87.00; groups: 29 head, 556 lb., 111.00 mixed.
Small and Medium #1-#2: 300-400, 104.00-109.00; 400-500, 106.00-111.00;
500-600, 94.00-104.00; 700-800, 84.00.
Stock Cows and Calves: Medium and Large #1-#2: 5-8 year old cows
with 100-200 lb. calves, 660.00-760.00 per pair.
Stock Cows: Medium and Large #1-#2: 3-8 year old cows, bred 3-7
months, 550.00-730.00 per head.
Aged cows: 420.00-520.00 per head.
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