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Up to this point in the harvest season we have been short on grain dry down and cooling weather. Corn moisture percentages have been hanging in the 20’s, sometimes in the upper 20’s. This past week eliminated much of the moisture, but favorable field dry down weather rarely continues into...
I’ve received lots of inquiries in the past few weeks about sampling fields for nematodes that feed on corn. Most every Iowa field has one or more different nematode species present at low numbers. But it’s only when numbers are at damaging levels that yield loss will occur.
Unfortunately...
I grew up watching the television show Quincy, M.E. Jack Klugman starred as a Los Angeles County medical examiner in the mystery-thriller, one-hour show as Quincy who had to solve mysterious deaths. I would argue this show set the tone for future shows such as "CSI: Crime Scene...
Fall is usually not a time I expect to get questions about armyworms, but last week I received several questions about fall armyworms in cover crops, particularly in cereal rye, triticale, or wheat cover crops. In Iowa, fall armyworms can be pests in corn, hayfields and pastures, but this is the...
Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been doing stalk rot assessments at several of the ISU Research Farms including the Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm, the McNay Research Farm, and the Ames Farm. While the plants seemed to be standing well, minus where the raccoons had fun in one of...
If you would like to learn more about current soil fertility issues and research being conducted at universities across the North Central region, then consider attending the 47th Annual North Central Extension-Industry Soil Fertility Conference to be held November 15-16, 2017, from 1:00 p.m. to...
This week, my technician Greg VanNostrand found a black widow in our storage Quonset at the ISU Johnson Research Farm. The farm is just south of Ames in Story County. She is an adult female and had a pile of dead body fragments below her web. Needless to say, she was healthy and happy in the...
Often people have fond memories of monarch butterflies and look forward to their arrival each summer. But there is some confusion about their migration pattern and population decline. “How can such a tiny butterfly travel such a great distance?” and “What do you mean the population is declining...
To help farmers and agronomists identify, scout, and manage corn diseases a new Corn Diseases booklet, published by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, is now available to crop producers and industry professionals. The up-...
My colleagues at Purdue recently compiled weather data to determine how many hours would be available to apply the new dicamba products (e.g. Xtendimax with VaporGrip Technology, FeXapan with VaporGrip Technology, and Engenia...
It’s always difficult to forecast weather, but if dry field conditions persist, potential for combine and field fires this fall could be a problem. All it takes is a single high-temperature source in the engine area, or an overheated bearing to ignite dry plant material.
During harvest...
As the 2017 growing season winds down, ISU Extension and Outreach field agronomists share how the crops are progressing and finishing out the season in their repressive regions across the state.
Northwest Iowa
...In mid-August of this summer, I wasn’t hearing anything about aphids feeding on corn and I thought we weren’t going to see it this year. These aphids are highly erratic and so where and when they land are not well understood. But the last week of August, I started to hear from folks in northern...
For the past four years (maybe five) I’ve visited the first three known infestations of Palmer amaranth in western Iowa to track the status of the populations in these fields. Following is a brief summary of my visits to Harrison, Fremont and Page Counties on September 3.
I’m getting a lot of questions regarding treatment timing for soybean aphid. Mainly, when is it too late to treat? In the last week of August 2017, most fields are reaching R5/R6 and so the question is an important one. In my soybean aphid efficacy evaluation, I have sprayed at different plant...
The economic threshold of 250 soybean aphids per plant, with more than 80% of plants infested and aphid populations increasing was published in 2007 to prevent populations from reaching the EIL. These values were determined by closely monitoring aphid populations in research...
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach field agronomists report crop conditions in NW, NE, and SE Iowa.
Northwest Iowa
The following article originally appeared on the ISU Weed Science Online website. Current research is showing that the new formulations of dicamba (Xtendimax with Vapor Grip Technology and Engenia) have not solved the volatility problem associated with dicamba. Since the fundamentals of...
#Drought17, late season hail damage, weed escapes, and soybean aphids seem to be the big issues ISU Extension field agronomists are seeing in fields across the state this past week. Read on for more information about your region's crop progress and field conditions.
Northwest...
For the first time in recent history, a contestant successfully defended their title in the Professional Division at the State Fair Weed ID Contest. Cindy Recker of Peosta repeated as champion of the Professional Division, Karen Stiles of Des Moines won the General Division, and Henric Krause...
Six teams of Iowa youth from across the state participated in the seventh annual Iowa Crop Scouting Competition on July 31 at the ISU Extension and Outreach...
Seeding Cover Crops in Dry Conditions
We are quickly approaching the time of year when we aerially seed cover crops into standing corn and soybeans. Earlier seeding allows for more growth and consequently more biomass to protect soils from erosion. It also allows the opportunity to...
The dry and droughty conditions, spider mites, soybean aphids, and dicamba drift are common issues ISU Extension field agronomists are seeing across the state. Read on for more information about your region's crop progress and field conditions.
Northwest Iowa
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, most of Iowa is still considered abnormally dry. Twospotted spider mites are erratic pests in some corn and soybean fields right now, particularly in southern Iowa. I’ve been...