Blog

ISU Extension and Outreach and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences recently hosted a “five-stop” virtual field day series. This series featured a greeting by Dean Dan Robison, an administrative update on the farms, and four consecutive days featuring water quality research, fungicide...

Downed corn from the August 10 Derecho, which affected millions of acres in Iowa, will contribute to significant volunteer corn populations in crop fields in 2021. Volunteer corn ranging from 800 to 13,000 plants per acre can cause yield losses up to 54% in soybean and up to 13% in corn,...

Save money and time this fall by planning for no-till soybean planting next spring. Many farmers are moving away from tillage, due to a host of detrimental environmental factors involved with tillage as well as reducing cost of soybean production.

Soybean yields are not impacted by no-...

The combination of drought, derecho and recent hot weather in Iowa increases the need to keep grain quality in check. As harvest nears, consider the following:

Dear regulators,

I assume you are evaluating data and reviewing information that will guide your decision regarding the re-registration of dicamba for use in dicamba-resistant (DR) crops. As you know, farmers have a critical need for additional tools to help manage herbicide-resistant...

Chopping silage during rapid drying conditions always bring up the question of “How much water do I add?” The short answer: It is practically impossible to add enough to get to your desired moisture level. 

To add one point of moisture for each ton of silage you would need to add seven...

The unprecedented August 10 derecho storm event has caused significant damage to Iowa corn fields. If it’s decided to proceed with harvesting the field for grain, several operational changes may increase performance and productivity of the combine.

While much of the damage from this month’s derecho is due to strong hurricane-force winds, isolated pockets of hail affected crops also, particularly in parts of Carroll, Greene, Hamilton, Hardin, Boone, and Story counties.  When addressing any crop damage, contact your crop insurance provider...

Caterpillars have been extremely active this year, especially in soybean. We suspect that late-season infestations of caterpillars in corn are no exception. These infestations are serious because these caterpillars feed on the ear and/or tunnel into stalks. Their feeding can also lead to...

Monday’s derecho event took a toll on crops across Iowa. Satellite imagery shows millions of acres of Iowa crops impacted by the high wind events. As growers dig out from the destruction left after the storm, decisions regarding how to manage the impacted crop will be front and center.

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Drought conditions persist in western Iowa and have expanded further into central and north central Iowa this week. Common issues reported by ISU Extension field agronomists this past week included poor grain fill and fast reproductive development in corn, increasing disease pressure in some...

ISU Extension and Outreach field agronomists, Meaghan Anderson and Angie Rieck-Hinz, recently partnered with their extension colleagues at the University of Minnesota to organize and deliver the second webinar series, Essential Row Crop...