Much of Nebraska was 2 to 4 degree above average for the month of March. There was a 3-day heat wave with 70s and 80s on April 6, 7, and 8 in portions of Nebraska. In Lincoln, a record high was set on April 7 (87 degrees) and a record low on April 10 (17 […]
The 2019 soybean harvest was problematic. Wet weather delayed harvest in many parts of the state, and a hard early frost added additional insult to injury (pun intended). Unfortunately, a wet finish to the field season can reduce seed quality by facilitating the development of several diseases of soybean seed. The main players are Phomopsis seed decay […]
Timing corn emergence is key to minimize yield reductions, and can be more important for preserving yield than even seed spacing. When setting planting depth for corn this year, be sure to consider not just first emergence seen, but also how uniform the emergence is. In work conducted from 2017-2019, we manipulated seeding depth to […]
Ample soil moisture and warming temperatures are promoting rapid growth and development of many early-season weed species. Most weeds currently growing in fields emerged last fall and successfully overwintered (winter annuals, biennials or perennials), but several early-season summer annual species recently have emerged. Existing weed vegetation should be controlled before planting by utilizing tillage, herbicides, […]
March rainfall in Illinois ranged from normal to a couple of inches above normal, but the last week of March and first week of April have been relatively dry, and field operations are getting underway. The April 6 NASS report indicates that there were 3.1 days suitable for fieldwork in Illinois during the week ending […]
U.S. producers are positioned to plant the second-largest corn crop in modern history, but you wouldn’t notice by glancing at fertilizer prices. In the week’s post, we review 2020 fertilizer prices and the trend of lower prices. Price Lower in 2020 As producers updated their 2020 crop budget, low fertilizer prices were a welcomed improvement. As […]
Rainfast Period Herbicide labels include recommendations on how much time must elapse between herbicide application and subsequent rainfall to ensure good herbicide performance. This is known as the rainfast period. Generally, herbicide rainfast ratings (Table 1) are based on good growing conditions. Poor conditions may require a longer interval between application and any rainfall to […]
Army cutworms have been spotted in Kansas and Nebraska crop fields this month. This is an important time to scout for this pest, particularly in wheat and alfalfa. Of the many cutworm species in Nebraska, the army cutworm is the most damaging in western Nebraska. Economic damage from other cutworms, such as the pale western cutworm, dark-sided […]
Cover crops can serve as a useful tool of an integrated weed management program. Our research has shown that cover crops such as cereal rye can provide good control of winter annual weeds and other troublesome species like horseweed (Figure 1), and also provide early-season suppression of summer annual weeds like waterhemp. However, proper spring […]
As was the case a year ago, there have been limited opportunities to apply nitrogen fertilizer since last fall. Rainfall in Illinois through the first three weeks of March has been at or above average, and temperatures have been a few degrees above normal. Soils remain wet, and there is little in the current weather […]