Blog

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...

Conservation, Crop Production

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...

Diseases

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.

...

Crop Production, Weather

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...

Insects

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. 

Crop Production, Insects

Jody Korthaus
June 27, 2016 5:32 PM

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%,...

Crop Production

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...

Insects

Jody Korthaus
June 24, 2016 3:39 PM

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....

Crop Production

Jody Korthaus
June 20, 2016 5:11 PM

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-average by 9%....

Crop Production

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...

Diseases

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.

Crop Production

Daren S 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...

Diseases

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...

Crop Production, Soil Fertility

Rebecca Vittetoe
June 15, 2016 9:17 AM

Erika Lundy-Woolfolk
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,...

Crop Production

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...

Crop Production, Insects

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...

Weeds

Jody Korthaus
June 13, 2016 4:28 PM

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%,...

Crop Production

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...

Weeds

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).


Soil Fertility

Jody Korthaus
June 6, 2016 5:24 PM

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...

Crop Production

Mark Hanna
June 6, 2016 11:53 AM

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.

Equipment, Pests

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...

Crop Production, Insects

Bob Hartzler
May 27, 2016 6:27 AM

Researchers at the University of Illinois recently published a paper identifying the PPO resistance mechanism in Palmer amaranth.  It turns out that both Palmer and waterhemp have an unusual type of mutation providing resistance to the group 14 herbicides (PPO inhibitors).  Rather than a...

Weeds

Bob Hartzler
May 26, 2016 7:12 AM

Plants with yellow flowers are a common sight in roadsides and other grassy areas as one drives across Iowa at this time of year. There's a good chance these plants are one of the weedy mustards (wild mustard, yellow rocket, hedge mustard, etc.), golden alexander, or wild parsnip. The mustards...

Weeds

Jody Korthaus
May 23, 2016 2:57 PM

A lot of soybean planting progress was made across the state this past week, as farmers tried to get ahead of this week's daily rain forecast. Most corn planting has been completed in Iowa, with 75% already emerged, according to the May 23 USDA Crop Progress Report....

Crop Production

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