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Alison Robertson
July 21, 2021 4:37 PM
If you listen carefully, you can hear corn tassels rattling in the breeze, and occasionally the hum of a crop sprayer.
This growing season started off exceptionally dry, apart from southeast Iowa. The moisture that arrived in July and hung around for a couple of weeks was welcomed by...
Ashley Dean
July 21, 2021 7:09 AM
Erin Hodgson
July 21, 2021 7:09 AM
Rebecca Vittetoe
July 21, 2021 7:09 AM
Last week, a team of us met up at the Iowa State University Southeast Research Farm (SERF) to evaluate root injury in a small trial for corn rootworm management. The trial had four treatments replicated eight times. The treatments included no management (glyphosate-tolerant only; no Bt traits or...
Rebecca Vittetoe
July 20, 2021 9:52 PM
Corn started pollinating within the last week, and soybeans range from full flowering (R2) to beginning pod (R2). The hot topics this past week across the state included foliar fungicide decisions, corn rootworms, and herbicide injury in soybeans. Read on for more specifics on what ISU Extension...
Mark Licht
July 19, 2021 4:20 PM
Zachary Clemens
July 19, 2021 4:20 PM
Corn pollination is well underway and is one of the most critical times in corn development. Pollination is the biggest factor on the size of yield.
Corn plants have both male and female flowers. The tassel represents the male flower. When tassels emerge, they produce a spikelet, which...
Mark Licht
July 16, 2021 10:53 AM
Zachary Clemens
July 16, 2021 10:53 AM
Now is the time to make plans for cover crop planting if you have not already done so. There are several cover crop species that are often talked about, however, cereal rye,...
Gretchen Paluch
July 16, 2021 10:17 AM
Elizabeth Danielson
July 16, 2021 10:17 AM
If you have experienced a suspected dicamba incident contact the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) at 515-281-8591 to file a report. You may file an “Incident Report” or a “Documentary Report” with the IDALS Pesticide Bureau.
Reporting dicamba incidents helps...
Erin Hodgson
July 14, 2021 2:49 PM
Soybean gall midge detections continue in western Iowa. As of this week, there are ten counties with infested soybean fields. These counties were previously infested with larvae. In some fields where we monitor activity a bit closer, we noticed first-generation adults were produced. These adults...
We’ve had two new members join the ISU Crops Team as field agronomists!
Clarabell Knapp, field agronomist for region 11 in south central and south eastern Iowa, began June 7; and Gentry Sorenson, field agronomist for region two in northwest Iowa, began July 6.
...
Rebecca Vittetoe
July 14, 2021 10:48 AM
The drier parts of the state finally received some much-needed rainfall, and unfortunately parts of southern Iowa that are pretty well saturated also received some more rain this past week. Herbicide injury in soybeans,...
Meaghan Anderson
July 11, 2021 10:33 AM
Antonio Mallarino
July 11, 2021 10:33 AM
A common sight across the state this summer has been yellow or white patches of soybean in otherwise green fields. This ICM Blog will review several possible causes of yellow soybean and provide resources regarding each phenomenon.
Iron Deficiency Chlorosis (IDC)...
Rebecca Vittetoe
July 7, 2021 1:20 PM
Herbicide drift, fungicide decisions, and iron deficiency chlorosis were common questions or issues received and/or observed by ISU Extension and Outreach field agronomists this past week. Read on to see what's happening in different regions across the state.
North Central Iowa...
Soybean research and Extension specialists from land-grant universities across the country welcome you to join the next monthly informal discussion on crop production topics that are timely and relevant. When you join the Notes from the Field webinar series, you will get highlights and current...
Rebecca Vittetoe
June 29, 2021 10:35 PM
While some much-needed rain did come this past week it seems that the drier areas continue to miss out or get minimal rainfall and the wetter parts of the state keep getting wetter. The rain also brought some hail, which caused some pretty significant damage not just to crops but property as...
Alison Robertson
June 29, 2021 2:12 PM
Despite the cooler conditions and precipitation (in some parts of Iowa) last week, the U.S. Drought Monitor categorizes most of Iowa in moderate to severe drought. As we approach tasseling, more and more questions around fungicides are being asked.
All diseases managed by...
Erin Hodgson
June 29, 2021 7:25 AM
I’ve had a lot of questions about soybean gall midge over the winter and in the last few weeks. Most fields have plants with 4-7 trifoliates and I’ve even seen some flowers! If you are connected with the Soybean Gall Midge Alert Network, you know...
The mass of water in corn follows a seasonal cycle. During the vegetative stages, corn is around 80% water. Corn water mass quickly accumulates during the vegetative stages. Maximum water mass occurs around 1830 Fahrenheit GDD after planting for many Iowa corn cultivars, aligning with the end of...
Rebecca Vittetoe
June 22, 2021 2:39 PM
The hot and dry conditions last week resulted in many fields showing signs of stress. Thankfully, a much-needed rain fell across a good part of the state late last week and on Sunday evening. Unfortunately, most of NW Iowa seemed to miss out on the rain. With the much-needed rain, there was also...
Rebecca Vittetoe
June 21, 2021 9:10 PM
While some areas received some much need precipitation later last week and over the weekend, there was some hail that came with it. Some fields have pretty minor hail damage and other fields had some pretty significant hail damage.
Ashley Dean
June 18, 2021 4:42 PM
Erin Hodgson
June 18, 2021 4:42 PM
Today, our lab crew went to the Johnson Farm south of Ames, Iowa to evaluate a bean leaf beetle study. To our surprise, we found many V4-V6 plants with established soybean aphid colonies (Photo 1). It is not uncommon to find sporadic soybean aphids in June, but it is surprising to find a colony...
Rebecca Vittetoe
June 15, 2021 12:11 PM
While some areas did receive some much-needed rainfall across the state, most areas received very little to no rainfall this past week. Consequently, it wasn’t hard to see lot of corn fields with leaves rolling this past week across the state. Lots of POST herbicide applications, sidedressing,...
Erin Hodgson
June 14, 2021 2:25 PM
Over the last 5 days, I’ve been asked numerous times about a small butterfly roaming the gravel roads and wooded areas around Iowa. It’s a fast, skittish insect and tracking down a good photo has been really tough. They are described by entomologists as mercurial, or subject to sudden and...
The following is a view of the moisture status for six locations in northwest Iowa where the soil was analyzed for spring subsoil moisture. This discussion may or may not reflect the current soil moisture conditions in your area. This article does attempt to account for stored soil moisture,...
Sotirios Archontoulis
June 14, 2021 12:32 PM
Mark Licht
June 14, 2021 12:32 PM
Across most of Iowa, corn is near V6 stage and much of Iowa is under some degree of drought stress. The exception being extreme southeast Iowa. Being at V6 stage means corn ear initiation is occurring and in the coming week the number of kernel rows on the ear will be determined. This is the...
Micronutrients for soybean production, soybean cyst nematode management and white mold of soybean will highlight the summer field day at the Iowa State University Northern Research and Demonstration Farm near Kanawha.
The North Central Iowa Research Association will also announce a...
Ashley Dean
June 10, 2021 1:56 PM
Erin Hodgson
June 10, 2021 1:56 PM
For the second year in a row, we’ve been hearing multiple reports of fields with high grub activity in central Iowa, particularly between Ames and Ankeny. Typically, people were called out to the field for other reasons but found grubs once they started digging. In fact, a field I visited last...