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Subscribe to RSS FeedThe USDA Weekly Crop Progress Report on Monday, June 27, showed Iowa's corn crop condition as unchanged from last week's 79% good/excellent rating. Soybean emergence in Iowa is 99%,...
Erin Hodgson
June 27, 2016 4:22 PM
Earlier this month, I wrote an ICM News article showing peak corn rootworm egg hatch in Iowa. That means at least 50% of viable eggs have likely hatched and larvae will start feeding...
Thursday, June 23, brought great weather and a good crowd to the Northern Iowa Research Farm Field Day near Kanawha, Iowa, and the Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm Spring Field Day near Crawfordsville, Iowa; both hosted by Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach....
Joel DeJong
June 22, 2016 2:07 PM
On Friday evening of last week (June 17), a storm system rolled through the northwest corner of Iowa. Winds with this system were clocked in the 70+ mph range, and one weather station measured wind gusts over 100 mph. Many large trees were snapped off, grain bins damaged, and other facilities...
Iowa Crop Progress Summary
The USDA Weekly Crop Progress Report stated Iowa's corn crop has a good/excellent rating of 79%, above the current national average of 75%. The agency reported all of Iowa's soybeans as planted and 97% emerged, ahead of the 5-year-...
Edward Zaworski
June 17, 2016 1:30 PM
So far, this growing season has been relatively quiet on the crop disease front, likely due to the mild weather this spring has brought us. In its place we have seen quite a bit of concern with herbicide injury. Where diseases are concerned, here is what we have encountered so far in the...
Clarke McGrath
June 17, 2016 9:27 AM
There aren’t great answers to contend with the root cause (pun intended) of the uneven corn this season. The unusual weather conditions that started last winter and extended into this spring, and long periods of stress magnify small differences within fields and improves the odds of seedling...
Clarke McGrath
June 16, 2016 5:04 PM
I've been getting a lot of calls about uneven corn. Uneven corn can be caused by many factors, and there are usually multiple variables in play. Since a lot of folks have asked, here are some reasons I am seeing uneven spots in fields around west central and southwest Iowa.
Daren Mueller
June 15, 2016 5:02 PM
A Twitter campaign has been started to track corn and soybean diseases throughout the country. While scouting this summer, farmers and agribusiness professionals are encouraged to tweet a photo with the name of the disease, county, and state to either...
John Sawyer
June 15, 2016 1:05 PM
Antonio Mallarino
June 15, 2016 1:05 PM
The Using Manure Nutrients for Crop Production publication (PMR 1003) has recently been updated with revised beef cattle and dairy manure nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) crop...
Rebecca Vittetoe
June 15, 2016 9:17 AM
Erika Lundy
June 15, 2016 9:17 AM
Cover crops have become quite popular in recent years, not only from a soil conservation and water quality perspective, but also due to their potential to be an additional forage source for livestock producers. To better understand how cover crops can be used as a potential forage source, Iowa...
Erin Hodgson
June 14, 2016 11:03 AM
I recently had a call about millipedes feeding on corn kernels in northeast Iowa this week. The farmer had a 120-acre cornfield with approximately 20 percent stand loss associated with millipede feeding. I rarely hear about millipedes as field crop pests, but a couple factors likely played a...
Clarke McGrath
June 13, 2016 5:31 PM
Check weed sizes vs. herbicide rates so you can maximize herbicide effectiveness. I am getting calls on some pretty sizeable weeds in fields, especially ragweed and waterhemp. Some of the ragweed (and marestail in some no-till and min-till fields) is already beyond being able to consistently...
The USDA Weekly Crop Progress Report showed that Iowa's corn crop is 99% emerged and has a good/excellent rating of 80% for the week ending June 12. The agency reported 91% of Iowa soybeans have emerged, 10% ahead of the 5-year-average. The good/excellent rating for Iowa soybeans are 81%,...
Rebecca Vittetoe
June 13, 2016 1:02 PM
Alison Robertson
June 13, 2016 1:02 PM
It seems too early in the growing season yet to be seeing corn diseases like Northern Corn Leaf Blight (NCLB), but I happened to spot a few corn plants with NCLB lesions on them in an isolated area in a corn field in southeast Iowa. Why are we seeing NCLB so early?
...
Alison Robertson
June 13, 2016 12:33 PM
It is hot here in Iowa...but not hot enough to discourage us from hand planting a soybean trial evaluating novel germplasm for resistance to Phytophthora root and stem rot (PRR) caused by P. sojae. PRR causes stand and yield losses every year throughout the U.S.
...
Bob Hartzler
June 10, 2016 4:11 PM
One of the less rewarding tasks of pest management is gleaning information from pesticide labels. Because of the complexity of labels, many people rely on guides produced by universities or distributors to identify solutions for pest problems. While these guides are convenient, they are not...
Erin Hodgson
June 10, 2016 7:36 AM
Yesterday, my lab crew went to the ISU Northeast Research Farm near Nashua, Iowa to assess plant stands and take initial aphid counts in my efficacy evaluation trial. My technician found five wingless soybean aphids in a V1 plant. This was certainly interesting, as it could mean uniform colony...
Meaghan Anderson
June 7, 2016 3:53 PM
Virgil Schmitt
June 7, 2016 3:53 PM
After a busy week at a meeting in Michigan, Virgil Schmitt and I visited the Muscatine County farmer with Palmer amaranth to assess the population.
This farmer first discovered Palmer amaranth...
Clarke McGrath
June 7, 2016 10:22 AM
Most of the corn is around V3 to V6, with some of the replant corn popping up with the heat. I think (hope) I saw my last replanted corn being put in yesterday, some wet spots that had dried out on the edges of some bottom fields.
Spraying corn...
John Sawyer
June 6, 2016 6:01 PM
Most of Iowa has not received high precipitation amounts this spring, however, some regions have–most notably western Iowa (see maps). Wet springtime conditions typically raise the question about the status of applied nitrogen (N).
The USDA Crop Progress Report from Monday, June 6, shows corn planting 100% complete in Iowa, with 97% of corn emerged. The agency report has Iowa's corn crop at a 80% good/excellent rating. Soybean planting is 94% done, ahead of last week's 88% and the five-year-average of 85%. According to the...
Increasing sprayer travel speed causes the controller to increase boom pressure (and decrease droplet size). If field conditions have you running behind and your sprayer travel speed has increased 20–25%, consider using one size larger nozzle tip to minimize drift potential.
Erin Hodgson
June 2, 2016 12:28 PM
Today, I heard about some armyworm feeding on corn in northeast and northwest Iowa. In the NE Iowa field, rye was planted last fall and killed late this spring. Armyworms tend to be aggregated, or found in big groups, and can cause significant injury seemingly overnight. The caterpillars are...
Erin Hodgson
May 27, 2016 7:54 AM
Although most of my research projects are outside, I occasionally do work in growth chambers and greenhouses. This week, I started a seed treatment evaluation for soybean. I'm looking at 12 different treatments and seeing how soybean aphid responds. Working in more stabilized conditions takes...