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Bob Hartzler
July 18, 2016 11:14 AM
I’ve seen more people walking beans and had more comments about it than I can remember in a long time. Perhaps it's time for Greg Brown to re-release his classic ‘Walking the Beans’, first released on ‘The Iowa Waltz’ album in 1981....
Bob Hartzler
July 13, 2016 1:56 PM
The current epidemic of wild parsnip has garnered much attention due to the toxins present in the plant. Since wild parsnip is a biennial, mowing is often recommended as a control option. The theory is that by preventing seed production, mowing can eliminate future infestations. In practice,...
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach field agronomists report crop conditions in your area of the state.
Angie Rieck-Hinz
July 8, 2016 7:54 AM
About twice a year I get asked these questions. "Angie, what are you doing to promote cover crops in north central Iowa? We just don't have many acres of cover crops up there." Or, "Angie, what can we do to get more cover crops in north central Iowa?" I usually chuckle at these questions, and...
Erin Hodgson
July 8, 2016 6:53 AM
Western corn rootworm (WCR) and northern corn rootworm (NCR) eggs overwinter in the soil and larval hatch is based on accumulated degree days (ADD) of soil temperatures each year. Average hatching dates for Iowa are in early June, with southern counties experiencing egg hatch before northern...
Ed Zaworski
July 7, 2016 11:24 AM
Since the last clinic update (6/17/2016), we are starting to transition from seedling diseases to foliar diseases. There is quite a bit of concern from clients about getting an early jump on foliar diseases, in order to plan for foliar fungicide applications. Similarly to the last blog, a...
Meaghan Anderson
July 7, 2016 9:51 AM
Storms hit eastern Iowa yesterday, bringing variable amounts of rainfall and enough wind to blow some corn down. The damage seems to extend across multiple counties, but I witnessed many fields with varying amounts of damage in Linn and Jones counties.
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Rebecca Vittetoe
July 7, 2016 8:53 AM
Spider mites the end of June or first part of July? Our hot and dry weather here in southeastern Iowa have provided favorable conditions for spider mites. Typically we do not see spider mites reaching economically damaging levels until late July or early August when conations (hot and ry) are...
Bob Hartzler
July 6, 2016 7:36 AM
Wild parsnip is a biennial that was introduced to North America by the earliest European colonists, it is documented to have been grown in Virginia as early as 1609. In his 1913 book The Weed Flora of Iowa, L. H. Pammel described wild parsnip as ‘common on roadsides in every part of...
Erin Hodgson
July 5, 2016 11:01 AM
Last week, my lab crew found a few different caterpillars feeding in our soybean plots at the ISU Northwest Research Farm. They were hesitant to identify it in the field, so they brought one to me for a confirmation. First, I noticed it had a green body and green head and four pairs of prolegs...
Erin Hodgson
June 29, 2016 12:25 PM
This week, I got a note from Tristan Mueller (Iowa Soybean Association) seeing some corn leaf injury from redheaded flea beetle. The defoliation was noticeable and the farmer was considering a foliar insecticide. The fields did not have tasseled yet and he estimated 5-6 beetles per plant.
The 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-...
Ed 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%,...