Rebecca Vittetoe
Rebecca Vittetoe is an extension field agronomist in east central Iowa. Educational programs are available for farmers, agribusiness, pesticide applicators, and certified crop advisors.
Areas of expertise include agronomy, field crop production and management of corn, soybeans, and IPM/crop scouting. Vittetoe joined Iowa State University Extension and Outreach in April of 2015.
Subscribe to the Southeast/South-central Iowa Crop Connection newsletter for current topics and agriculture events in the area.
Subscribe to RSS FeedThe hot and dry conditions this past week resulted in crops showing more signs of stress, especially in the drier parts of the state. Drought stress, spider mites, corn rootworms, and questions regarding fungicide applications were the big questions or issues observed by ISU Extension field...
Last week, a team of us met up at the Iowa State University Southeast Research Farm (SERF) to evaluate root injury in a small trial for corn rootworm management. The trial had four treatments replicated eight times. The treatments included no management (glyphosate-tolerant only; no Bt traits or...
Corn started pollinating within the last week, and soybeans range from full flowering (R2) to beginning pod (R2). The hot topics this past week across the state included foliar fungicide decisions, corn rootworms, and herbicide injury in soybeans. Read on for more specifics on what ISU Extension...
The drier parts of the state finally received some much-needed rainfall, and unfortunately parts of southern Iowa that are pretty well saturated also received some more rain this past week. Herbicide injury in soybeans,...
Herbicide drift, fungicide decisions, and iron deficiency chlorosis were common questions or issues received and/or observed by ISU Extension and Outreach field agronomists this past week. Read on to see what's happening in different regions across the state.
North Central Iowa...
While some much-needed rain did come this past week it seems that the drier areas continue to miss out or get minimal rainfall and the wetter parts of the state keep getting wetter. The rain also brought some hail, which caused some pretty significant damage not just to crops but property as...
The hot and dry conditions last week resulted in many fields showing signs of stress. Thankfully, a much-needed rain fell across a good part of the state late last week and on Sunday evening. Unfortunately, most of NW Iowa seemed to miss out on the rain. With the much-needed rain, there was also...
While some areas received some much need precipitation later last week and over the weekend, there was some hail that came with it. Some fields have pretty minor hail damage and other fields had some pretty significant hail damage.
While some areas did receive some much-needed rainfall across the state, most areas received very little to no rainfall this past week. Consequently, it wasn’t hard to see lot of corn fields with leaves rolling this past week across the state. Lots of POST herbicide applications, sidedressing,...
This past week brought a range of field activities from replanting and POST herbicide applications to putting up hay and sidedressing nitrogen. Herbicide injury and carryover, dry conditions, yellow corn, and alfalfa weevils have been some of the more common issues ISU Extension field...
The dry conditions are causing some to see what is known as “floppy” corn (aka rootless corn). Rootless corn is easy to diagnose – simply dig up plants that are not standing erect like they should be, then gently knock off the soil to get a look at the roots. With rootless corn you will see the...
Frost damage, uneven corn, yellow looking crops, and volunteer corn becoming more prevalent were some of the more common issues observed in fields this past week. Read on for more specifics about what ISU Extension and Outreach field agronomists are hearing and seeing across the state.
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For those worried about the need for additional N this spring, one method in determining if additional N is needed is by doing the Late Spring Soil Nitrate Test (LSNT). This test measures the nitrate-N concentration in the top foot of soil. The measured N is a combination of nitrate residual...
Carbon markets and weed management strategies in soybeans will be the featured topics at an upcoming Agronomy Workshop and Crop Advisor Training being offered from 8 AM to noon on June 16 at the Southeast Iowa Research and Demonstration Farm located near Crawfordsville.
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While the rain may have limited fieldwork across the state this past week, it was much welcomed in many areas that have been on the drier side. Most of the corn and soybeans that have been planted are now emerged. Two of the more common issues seen in fields this past week included alfalfa...
Planting is starting to wrap up around the state for both corn and soybeans, and according to the May 17 NASS-USDA Crop Progress Report, 94% of the corn...
This past week brought some much needed and welcomed rain across the state. Planting is getting on the downhill slide with corn planting about 86% complete and soybean planting about 67% complete across the state according to the...
A lot of planting progress was made for both corn and soybeans over the last week. According to the May 3 USDA-NASS Crop Progress Report, approximately...
It’s been an unusual spring with the cooler and drier conditions. While many would welcome a rain, the warmer conditions mean planting has gotten underway. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach field agronomists share reports on what they are seeing and hearing in their respected regions...
It’s hard not to be itching to get in the field and start planting, especially since we are past the April 11th crop insurance date for planting. However, the optimum planting date is dictated by soil conditions (moisture and temperature), the weather forecast, and the calendar date...
While it seems like most alfalfa fields are greening up quite nicely this spring, there have been a few reports of winter injury in alfalfa stands, especially if stands or parts of stands may have been covered by sheets of ice during the winter.
Take some time now to evaluate stands for...
Many pastures in Iowa were stressed in 2020 from the dry conditions, storm damage, or overgrazing. Consider improving pasture stands and forage production with either frost seeding or interseeding this spring. Proper planning and preparation are needed to successfully improve pastures, and this...
Farmers and crop advisers are invited to attend the Southeast Iowa Agricultural Research Association annual meeting, which will be held virtually this year via Zoom on Tuesday, March 4, at 8 a.m.
The annual meeting will feature the following topics and speakers: “A Review of the 2020...
If you use a pesticide that requires the use of a respirator, the Worker Protection Standard requires that before you use the respirator you must first receive:
- A medical evaluation by a physician or other licensed health care professional to determine if you are physically fit to...
CropsTV is entering week 10, the last week, however, there is still time to register. There are 3 live episodes this week to finish out CropsTV programming next week. You can still watch all 45 episodes on-demand through February. Learn more and ...