By Brian Hefty

In the northern U.S., perhaps the biggest challenge we face each year is lack of heat units.  Our growing season is short, so we have to make the most of every single day.  One of the products we’ve been experimenting with in the last few years, RyzUp SmartGrass, can help increase early-season growth.  For $3 to $5 per acre, it might be worth experimenting with on your farm, especially if you have one of these three situations:

  1. Pasture.  RyzUp contains gibberellic acid.  Gibberellic acid is a hormone found in plants.  This acid promotes growth and elongation of cells.  By applying more of this naturally-occurring product, you can achieve more growth in your pasture grass.  What that means is more tonnage, more feed, and more profit per acre of pasture.  However, this product works best when it’s cool, as cool weather would normally limit growth.  What we usually talk to people about is the temperature range of 40 degrees to 65 degrees.  If your average temperature is in that range, you can expect good results from RyzUp and gibberellic acid.  In other words, spraying your pasture in the spring and in the fall could effectively give you one to two weeks more grass on each end of the growing season.  RyzUp is labeled for organic production, and there is no pre-harvest interval, so it is perfectly safe for livestock.
  2. Silage.  A couple years ago at our Field Day, farmers were remarking how nice the corn looked (and how tall it was) in the field right behind our Field Day plots.  That spring, we had applied RyzUp at about the V3 stage (Valent recommends application at V2 to V6).  My estimate was about one foot of extra plant growth, which was great.  Unfortunately, it didn’t help our yield, but our crop stood well and absolutely had more total tonnage.  In talking with farmers and agronomists who have also used RyzUp, this is consistent with what they’ve found: more tonnage all the time, but inconsistent yield gains.  In other words, for the grain farmer, RyzUp probably isn’t the answer.  For the farmer who cuts silage, RyzUp should pay off pretty well in extra tonnage.
  3. Wheat.  RyzUp can be tankmixed with many different products that may be applied to wheat in the spring.  Just check the label or talk to your agronomist, but chances are you will be able to throw your RyzUp in on your regular pass this spring.  Again, we suggest trying some strips or parts of fields, but RyzUp has been giving some decent yield gains in wheat when applied in the 2 to 4 leaf stage.

If you have one of these 3 scenarios, we believe you have a good chance for a decent return on your $3 to $5 investment, provided the weather is relatively cool.