Blog

Safety should be a major concern for all farmers during harvest, but as the season goes on, it can be easy to miss details or neglect safe practices that can put you or others at risk. Here are six simple safety tips to maintain throughout the season to keep yourself and your crew out of harm’s...

Fall nitrogen (N) application for corn continues to be popular for several reasons, including lower product cost, time for application, equipment availability, suitable soil conditions, and competing springtime field activities. Success, relative to spring or sidedress timing, can be enhanced by...

Harrison County: Ground zero for Palmer amaranth in Iowa is a 25 acre field that had a severe Palmer amaranth infestation when the weed was first identified in 2013.  Since then populations have consistently declined - this year I was unable to find any Palmer in the field,...

Drought continues to expand across the state, and August 2020 came in as one of the driest Augusts since 1893 across the state. Crops appear to be racing toward maturity, with several reports of both corn and soybean very near harvest-ready. While...

Following the derecho event on August 10, millions of acres in Iowa face challenging conditions. In many cases the corn may be unharvestable. These unharvestable fields require some level of fall management to ensure the future crop can achieve even emergence and normal early plant growth.

Corn fields destroyed by the August 10, 2020 derecho will have different crop residue than normal after grain harvest. Things that will be different include early plant death (at varying reproductive growth stages), ears at various stages of grain fill, and whole plants instead of “loose” stalks...

Rainfall still eludes most of the state of Iowa, and drought has continued to envelope the state, with the driest areas expanding from the west central part of the state. Crops continue to go downhill in the...

Fall Management Options for Corn Fields That Are Unharvestable

Millions of corn acres have been damaged by the derecho on August 10. Unfortunately for some of these acres, harvest will not take place. Decisions regarding fall management options will need to be made in the...

The range of soybean gall midge has expanded in 2020. There are three new counties in Iowa (Osceola, Dickinson, and Calhoun) for a total of 29. So far, 108 total counties are confirmed in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Likely more counties have soybean gall midge but...

Wind and storm damaged soybean have been reported across Iowa, creating yet another stress for farmers this growing season. Certain fungicide products are marketed as being capable of reducing stress in crops, so should they be sprayed on soybean this late in the season?  

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When steel grain bins sustain wind damage, careful inspection is needed to evaluate repair or replacement options. Inspection assistance and advice from a consulting engineer or bin manufacturer representative is the best option.

When damage is confined to the roof, sidewall sheets, or...

While some rainfall has come to the droughty areas of the state, drought intensified to D3 (extreme) drought in parts of central and west central Iowa. Unfortunately, a large swath of the state is now facing...