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Farmers across the state took advantage of the little dry spell that occurred last week. Approximately 70% of the expected corn crop and 27% of the soybean crop in Iowa has been planted according to the May 20 USDA-NASS Crop Progress and Condition Report. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach field agronomists share reports on what they are seeing and hearing in their respective regions across the state with field conditions and planting progress.

We have always told extension clients and students that the best tool for identifying an unknown weed is a good book, other than finding somebody who already knows what the weed is.  We never thought much of the early weed ID apps that were developed for mobile devices. 

“Rain, rain, go away come again another day.” This nursery rhyme seems to be an appropriate theme song for how the weather has been this spring. The wet weather has been a major challenge for getting any fieldwork completed across the state. According to the most recent USDA-NASS Crop Progress Report, 48% of Iowa's expected corn crop has been planted and 13% of Iowa's expected soybean crop has been planted.

As everything greens up, we often receive photos of mystery plants for identification.  Typically, I get a wide range of species via email or text message.  This spring, more than any I can recall in recent history, I’ve received many photos of the same species:  purslane speedwell (Veronica peregrina).

According to a recent State Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act Issues Research and Evaluation Group (SIFIREG) Dicamba Work Group guidance document and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship Pesticide Bureau, only certified applicators can mix and handle the following dicamba products:

Have you been driving in rural eastern Iowa lately? You might have noticed those choppers and wagons a few weeks ago harvesting miscanthus fields, but what have you seen most recently? Planters! You might have noticed that they don’t look like the grain planters most of us are used to seeing.  Miscanthus x giganteus is a perennial grass that does not produce a viable seed; therefore, planting methods are different compared to our conventional row crops.

The calendar may now say we are in the month of May, but it certainly doesn’t feel that way with the weather and with planting progress across Iowa.

This summer, I am starting a couple of new research projects looking at cover crop pest activity that might be relevant to corn production. Shout out to Alison Robertson and Mark Licht for including me on these massive research projects! The usual cover crop pest suspects are migratory moths, like black cutworm and true armyworm, that make their way to Iowa every spring. There isn’t much green around in March and April, so female moths like to lay eggs on early-season weeds and cereal rye.

Last week planters made progress across portions of Iowa. Rains this weekend and the forecast for the coming week indicate planting will be at a standstill this week. In light of the weekend weather, soil temperatures quickly fell below 50^oF. What does this mean for corn and soybean already planted?

Like #Plant18, #Plant19 seems to be off to a slow start. Approximately 21% of the expected corn crop and 3% of the soybean crop in Iowa has been planted according to the April 29 Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report. Planting progress does vary across the state. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach field agronomists share reports on what they are seeing and hearing in their respective regions across the state with field conditions and planting progress.

Now that we’re within the time frames for planting to achieve optimal yields for corn and soybean, producers might be getting antsy with the cold, damp weather, and weighing the risks of a potential cold front that can cause damage to germinating seeds or seedlings.

Today, we will take a quick trip around the world to explore how other cultures have used miscanthus. East Asian cultures incorporated miscanthus into their everyday lives: paintings, toys, household items, rituals, and in some cases medicinal uses.

Under the Worker Protection Standard (WPS) as revised in 2015, there are specific requirements for handlers when pesticide labels require the use of a respirator. Handlers are employees, owners, and family members who apply, load, unload, rinse pesticide application equipment or do other tasks involving the direct handling of pesticides.

Before you and your employees can use a respirator, you must receive:

The Crop Protection Network (CPN) has published its fungicide efficacy tables for corn and soybean foliar diseases and soybean seedling diseases. These three publications can be found at the CPN website, under resources and publications.

University of Missouri's Kevin Bradley and Mandy Bish recently shared a tailored list on several principles that have been researched and verified regarding dicamba usage ahead of #Plant2019. 

Bradley and Bish's list includes five principles to remember when communicating with producers and general knowledge for extension specialists:

March more or less came in and went out like a lion. The below normal temperature trend we experienced in February continued through March, averaging 5.2 F below normal. Western and southern Iowa experienced wetter than average conditions in March while the rest of the state experienced below average. Consequently, the preliminary observations have March precipitation at 0.10 inches below normal across the state.

Hungry pests begin to emerge with warm spring weather and spread to favorite foraging spots such as trees, shrubs, gardens and even crop fields. To raise awareness of damaging pests, the United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue issued a proclamation making April 2019 “Invasive Plant Pest and Disease Awareness Month.”
 

University of Illinois Extension Plant Pathologist Nathan Kleczewski recently conducted an interview through the Illinois Extension news service regarding pre-season management and preparation for tar spot in 2019.

Old man winter seems to just be hanging around, but we have had some glimpses that spring will arrive eventually.

We’ve had below normal temperatures (averaged for December, January, and February was 20.8 degrees or 1.3 degrees below normal) and above normal precipitation (total precipitation for December, January, and February was 5.63 inches, 2.32 inches more than normal) across the state this winter.

Updated Dec. 3, 2019.