Blog

Nabin Dangal
March 12, 2024 10:50 AM

Edgar Nieto
March 12, 2024 10:50 AM

Stith Wiggs
March 12, 2024 10:50 AM

Jose Gonzalez-Acuna
March 12, 2024 10:50 AM

Daren S Mueller
March 12, 2024 10:50 AM

By Nabin K. Dangal, Edgar Nieto, Stith Wiggs, Jose Gonzalez-Acuna, and Daren S. Mueller.

Plant Diseases

Elizabeth Danielson
March 12, 2024 10:24 AM

Recent court cases have brought changes to two pesticides with agricultural uses.

Chlorpyrifos legal for 2024

In late 2023, the Eighth Circuit court rejected the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2021 Final Rule revoking all food tolerances for the organophosphate...

Crop Production, Pesticide Education

Angie Rieck-Hinz
March 12, 2024 10:00 AM

It most certainly has been a strange winter with very little moisture. This fact, combined with a multi-year drought has people concerned for spring planting. Most farmers I have talked to this winter have shared concerns about not only the lack of precipitation, but the lack of soil moisture....

Crop Production, Soil Management

Shelby Gruss
February 28, 2024 5:25 PM

Rebecca Vittetoe
February 28, 2024 5:25 PM

High February temperatures have prompted many alfalfa fields across the state to initiate greening up over the past couple of weeks (Figure 1). However, temperatures then plummeted (9°F) earlier this week, likely resulting in the demise of the new growth. But the more pressing question is...

Crop Production

Rebecca Vittetoe
February 26, 2024 9:28 PM

Clarabell Probasco
February 26, 2024 9:28 PM

Virgil Schmitt
February 26, 2024 9:28 PM

You are invited to the Southeast Iowa Agricultural Research Association's annual meeting, on Thursday, March 7, at the Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm, located at 3115 Louisa-Washington Rd, Crawfordsville.

The association, in partnership with Iowa State University, oversees the...

Crop Production

Shelby Gruss
February 20, 2024 1:21 PM

This winter's erratic weather, swinging from -30°F wind chills to unseasonably warm highs in the 50s, has left many pondering whether to frost-seed or not to frost-seed. As the calendar inches towards mid-February, the dilemma intensifies, with some already contemplating drilling spring oats or...

Crop Production

Mark Licht
February 15, 2024 8:00 AM

Soybean planting dates have been moving earlier and earlier. In a nod to this, the USDA Risk Management Agency has moved up the earliest planting dates for replant insurance coverage – April 10 for the southern 3 tiers of Iowa counties and April 15 for the northern 6 tiers of Iowa counties. Even...

Crop Production

Ashley Dean
February 12, 2024 2:32 PM

Erin Hodgson
February 12, 2024 2:32 PM

Iowa State University’s IPM Team has monitored field crop pests for a long time. The pests have changed over the years, but the goal is the same: to help inform farmers about pest activity in Iowa. Our moth trapping efforts target black cutworm, which is a migratory moth. Since timing of arrival...

Crop Production, Insects and Mites

Elizabeth Danielson
January 3, 2024 8:21 AM

To maintain your private pesticide applicator certification, you must either pass an exam every three years or attend an approved Private Continuing Instruction Course (P-CIC) between December 1 and April 15 each year your certification card covers.

In-Person Training

The best...

Pesticide Education

Mark Licht
January 3, 2024 8:00 AM

Corn seed costs continue to go up and with weaker commodity prices there is growing interest in looking at ways to cut costs or simply ensure seeding rates are economically optimized. These efforts open eyes to the possibility of using variable rate seeding to reduce seed costs in low...

Crop Production

Mark Licht
November 28, 2023 8:01 AM

The Midwest Cover Crops Council (MCCC) will host their 2024 Annual Meeting and Conference at the Crowne Plaza Indianapolis-Airport on February 13-14, 2024. The MCCC is a collaboration of researchers, extension staff, farmers, agencies, and industry with the mission of facilitating widespread...

Crop Production

Beth Reynolds
November 21, 2023 2:30 PM

Aside from visiting loved ones, my favorite thing about the holidays is the food. Particularly the big sit-down meal shared with a full table. So my question today – what would that holiday spread look like for a blade of grass in the pasture? Simply put – what can we, as grass growers, provide...

Crop Production

Mark Licht
November 20, 2023 8:00 AM

Many are considering which corn hybrids to select for the 2024 crop. This also means I start getting questions about whether or not to plant transgenic or conventional hybrids. It is a really important decision to make because selecting the right hybrid, the right genetics is, in my mind, the...

Crop Production

Leah Ten Napel
November 15, 2023 7:00 AM

Gentry Sorenson
November 15, 2023 7:00 AM

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Field Agronomists have completed their fall survey of subsoil moisture in northwest Iowa. Subsoil moisture sampling in Iowa dates back to February 1954 when ten sites were chosen for soil moisture sampling. In 1959, the sampling increased to 22...

Crop Production, Soils, Soil Management

Dennis Todey
November 1, 2023 12:54 PM

The rain that has occurred over the state this fall has been welcomed and sorely needed. However, rainfall totals have been variable across the state and not enough to make up the deficit from the growing season. Northwest Iowa has received the most rainfall, with totals ranging from 3-6”. Parts...

Crop Production

Rebecca Vittetoe
October 30, 2023 9:54 AM

Meaghan Anderson
October 30, 2023 9:54 AM

Researchers recommend that soil temperatures at the 4-inch depth are 50° F and cooling before applying fall anhydrous ammonia or manure with a high ammonium nitrogen (N) content, such as with liquid swine manure.

Looking at the current 4-inch soil temperatures across the state, we did...

Soils

Angie Rieck-Hinz
October 26, 2023 4:02 PM

Crop stover is used for livestock feed, bedding, and cellulosic ethanol production. When stover is removed from the field, nutrients, in addition to what is removed with grain harvest, are removed and not recycled back to the soil for future use by crops. Crop stover removal amounts are also...

Crop Production

Kristina TeBockhorst
October 23, 2023 9:28 AM

Agricultural confined-space related cases of injuries and fatalities saw a dramatic rise in 2022, including grain entrapment cases which rose nearly 45%, based on ...

Grain Handling and Storage

Adam Sisson
October 18, 2023 3:14 PM

An updated Corn and Soybean Field Guide is now available from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

This 236-page pocket-sized guide (3-3/4" x 6") combines corn and soybean integrated pest management information in one publication for ease of use by corn and soybean farmers,...

Crop Production, Insects and Mites, Plant Diseases

Rebecca Vittetoe
October 11, 2023 9:40 AM

Harvest is rolling right along across the state. Check out what ISU Extension and Outreach field agronomists are seeing and hearing on how harvest is progressing in their respective areas of the state.

Northwest Iowa...

Crop Production

Rebecca Vittetoe
October 4, 2023 8:00 AM

Meaghan Anderson
October 4, 2023 8:00 AM

After the last several years of dry conditions, some pastures may benefit from a renovation in 2024. Proper planning and preparation are needed to successfully improve pastures with either a late winter frost seeding or no-till renovation with interseeding next spring. Below are some good...

Crop Production

Meaghan Anderson
October 2, 2023 11:17 AM

Rebecca Vittetoe
October 2, 2023 11:17 AM

Fall is a great time to take soil samples for testing. Soil testing is the only way to determine soil nutrient levels and test results can help make critical management decisions for the next growing season. Soil testing starts with the soil sample. It is critical to take a collection of...

Soil Fertility

Alison Robertson
September 29, 2023 8:43 AM

I have had several calls and emails about corn turning black – particularly the husks and leaf tissues. Walking in these fields turn a white shirt black quickly, and not surprisingly, combining this blackened corn can be very dirty. 

The corn is black because the tissues are being...

Plant Diseases

Kristina TeBockhorst
September 25, 2023 12:49 PM

Agricultural confined-space related cases of injuries and fatalities saw a dramatic rise in 2022, including grain entrapment cases which rose nearly 45%, based on ...

Grain Handling and Storage

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