Blog

The 2021 moth trapping season is underway, and our volunteers placed traps the week of March 28. Black cutworm (BCW) monitoring is a long-standing project in Iowa, and true armyworm (TAW) was added in 2017. Both of these pests are migratory, making it difficult to predict where populations will establish year to year.

As the weather turns warmer and the days grow longer, many of us are thinking about getting equipment like sprayers ready for the spring. Beyond making sure the machine is mechanically sound and fit for spring (which this past blog post can guide you through), we need to make sure it’s calibrated to accurately apply pesticides and fertilizer.

As it has started to warm up, folks are ready to implement early-spring weed management programs, especially in fields with infestations of winter annuals like field pennycress and marestail (horseweed). Spring burndown (preplant) herbicide programs should target winter annual plants at the rosette stage, prior to stem elongation (bolting), for consistent control. Cold nights (<40°F) will reduce activity of herbicides, particularly for glyphosate.

As more producers integrate cover crops into their operation, there has been increased interest in planting corn into a green or living cover crop, such as cereal rye, and terminating the cover crop after planting.

Program Specialist Levi Powell with ISU Digital Ag explains a quick tutorial for checking the closing wheel alignment of your planter in the shop before heading to the field.

ISU Digital Ag Program Specialist Levi Powell explains a simple process for checking planter depth settings in the shop to increase machine accuracy before you head to the field.

Occasionally, corn planted after a cereal rye cover crop may have reduced yields. Proposed reasons for this yield decline include allelopathy, seedling disease, nitrogen immobilization and poor planter performance. In our lab, we are interested in understanding how seedling disease and allelopathy contribute to corn yield decline to develop best management practices for growing corn after a cereal rye cover crop.

The recent dry conditions across the state, carried through from the 2020 growing season, has created an environment in which field fires are of concern this spring if current conditions continue to persist.  Strong winds can increase problems by acting as a catalyst, drying crop residue, enhancing the chances for a fire to be started, and increasing the scope of the fire if it’s already been ignited.

Spring planting season may come with added challenges as growers continue to deal with the effects of last August’s derecho event. Many fields through central Iowa were riddled with downed corn, and while some fields were able to be partially harvested, others were damaged so severely that growers had no choice but to till them under without harvesting any grain. In either case, there will be higher than normal residue levels in these fields this spring.

The nice weather and dry conditions have led some to think about the start of planting. My opinion, it is too early. Remember crop insurance replant dates are not until April 11. Use the extra days to get plans in order and a little rest and relaxation before the pace picks up.

Corn planting

Volunteer corn remains high on many minds this spring and one of the biggest questions is how much of those corn seed will germinate this spring. In an effort to learn more about the challenge we’re facing, Bob Hartzler collected soil and corn ears from the same fields he collected from last fall.

In addition to conducting regular spring maintenance on your planter, which we outlined in a recent post, it’s important to adjust the settings and perform routine maintenance on other machines that will make their way to the field in the coming weeks. As you are prepping equipment for spring field work, these past news and blog posts can be helpful tools to ensure your equipment is ready to give you an efficient and effective planting season.

Levi Powell with ISU Digital Ag walks through calculating and setting downforce for your planter and how downforce affects your performance in the field.

Prices for soil fertility inputs have increased greatly in recent months. The bi-weekly “Iowa Production Cost Report” showed a 51% cost increase in anhydrous, a 31% increase for urea, 56% higher cost for MAP (11-52-0), and an increase of 38% for Potash (0-0-60), from the average prices reported last September 22 compared to the March 9, 2021 report. Many who did not book their fertilizer last fall are questioning how to prioritize cash flow needs with these increased costs.

With a long winter coming to an end, our focus now turns to planter setup. While we often focus on new equipment and updates to our planters, knowledge of the basic function of the planter and the role each part of the planter plays in seeding depth and spacing, as well as upkeep of these parts is key to success this spring. 

If you grow specialty crops in Iowa or another North Central state, please help us with a study to:

The survey is at: go.osu.edu/drift12 Thank you for your help. 

With spring temperatures arriving in Iowa, grain producers should pay extra attention to the condition of the grain in their bins.

Cold winter temperatures keep mold and insect activity low in stored grain. Rising spring temperatures can trigger spoiling of grain that is wet or low quality. The allowable storage time that grain can be safely stored can be estimated using charts found here.

Recent ISU Field Agronomist retirement announcements include Brian Lang and Paul Kassel.  This has created two openings for ISU Extension and Outreach Field Agronomists.  There are two positions available – one in northwest Iowa and one in south-central Iowa.

Inquiries on the ISU Field Agronomist position have asked the who, what and where regarding the position.  The following is a brief description.

Pulse width modulated (PWM) sprayer nozzle technology has been present in the ag industry for many years. These systems can maintain pressure as speed changes by adjusting the duty cycle of the nozzle, allowing more or less product to flow out. Many systems also offer individual nozzle section control, which can reduce overapplication of product at headlands and around field obstacles. Another key benefit of these systems that is not often well understood is turn compensation.

Due to extensive damage to corn fields last year from the derecho, volunteer corn is a looming threat for many fields this spring. Farmers intending to plant corn in these derecho-affected fields have limited options for managing volunteer corn, thus thoughtful planning is critical. I asked a collective of weed scientists their thoughts on best management practices for controlling volunteer corn prior to planting corn. I received responses from University colleagues in 8 states and Canada.