It’s not here yet, but there’s a new soybean pest approaching on the distant western horizon. Illinois entomologists were part of a project to survey for it in Illinois during the 2020 growing season. Resseliella maxima Gagne´(Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), the soybean gall midge (SGM) is a newly-identified pest capable of causing heavy damage in soybean (Gagne´ et […]
Summer interseeding may be a good cover crop strategy for farmers with shorter growing seasons. So say the first-year results from a USDA-sponsored soil health demonstration project in northern Iowa. Interseeding allows cover crops to grow and take root prior to corn canopy. After canopy, the cover crop goes dormant from being shaded out then […]
People who garden may know about pennycress. It’s also called “stinkweed” for the odor it gives off when it’s crushed. Unlike most weeds, pennycress seeds contain a lot of oil, and that oil can be turned into fuel for jets or diesel trucks and cars. Two researchers at The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, […]
With harvest quickly wrapping up around the state, now is the perfect time to think about how you can minimize diseases next growing season. Reviewing diseases and the level they were present in your fields can help you select more disease-resistant corn hybrids and soybean varieties for the upcoming season. This is an important concept […]
Many emotions set in on farmers that hear the word “non-GMO”, but it could help them in times like today when prices are low for many farm products in South Dakota. As some may already know, non-GMO soybeans are being contracted in South Dakota at Miller by the South Dakota Soybean Processors. What could this […]
As Nebraska just legalized industrial hemp in 2019, during the 2020 season we have conducted a total of five studies (four field studies at Mead and one in a greenhouse in Lincoln) to test hemp tolerance to various herbicides that are commonly used in corn and soybean. This is the third article (in a series of […]
Corn tarspot, caused by the obligate fungal pathogen Phyllachora maydis, caused significant losses for many producers in 2018. If you recall, that season was characterized by persistent wet weather from August through September in many parts of the Midwest. This environment favored a widespread outbreak of the fungus, with losses upwards of 60 bu /A reported […]
The 2020 growing season was drier than average, with the majority of North Dakota receiving below-average precipitation throughout the season. As a result, 65% of the state is experiencing drought, and an additional 27% is considered abnormally dry. Ranchers have reported up to 60% reductions in forage production on pasture, range and hay land due […]
On Friday, the USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) released selected tables prepared for the Department’s upcoming Agricultural Baseline Projections report. The Department pointed out that, “The projections use as a starting point the short-term forecasts from the October 9, 2020 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report. With respect to commodity prices, the USDA’s Economic Research Service explained that, “USDA projections for changes in nominal (not adjusted […]
Relative acres of corn and soybeans vary across Illinois. Northern Illinois has more corn than soybeans acres and southern Illinois has more soybean than corn acres (see farmdoc daily, October 13, 2020). We provide more information on corn relative to soybean acres across the Midwest in this article. As acreages shift across the nation, this will serve […]