Blog

One of the label requirements for the dicamba products labeled for over-the-top use in soybean (Xtendimax, Tavium, Engenia) is that applicators must complete a special dicamba training annually. If you need to complete this training, go to the ...

Iowa State University’s IPM Team has monitored field crop pests for a long time. The pests have changed over the years, but the goal is the same: to help inform farmers about pest activity in Iowa. Our moth trapping efforts target migratory moths. Black cutworm monitoring is a long-standing...

As we move into the final month of meteorological winter, outlooks for February continue to show a classic La Niña (LN) signature across the United States. On the temperature side, above-average probabilities for warmer temperatures are found across the East Coast and throughout much of the Sun...

Since its discovery as a new species in 2019, soybean gall midge continues to be found in new counties across five states in the Midwest. For some farmers, the presence of soybean gall midge had a significant impact on soybean yield. The persistence of this new pest in existing areas and its...

Planting soybean in the same field that just grew soybean is not recommended. Soybean yield will suffer even before factoring in environmental conditions, weather, and pest/disease pressures. 

Four different studies in Minnesota and Wisconsin have shown a yield decline of at least 5% and...

Farmers may be planning to grow soybeans in 2022 in fields cropped to soybeans in 2021 because of high prices and limited availability of inputs for corn production. Doing this in fields infested with the soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is always a risky proposition. But growing beans on beans in...

Across Iowa, the forecasted average day/night temperatures are between 30 to 40 degrees F in the coming ten days, so the time is right to cool any grain that went into the bin at higher temperatures. Good harvest conditions and warm weather early this fall mean that there is on-farm grain that...

The November and the meteorological winter (December-January-February) temperature and precipitation outlooks were recently released by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC). Below is a recap of what those outlooks are predicting and the potential impacts those outlooks could have on...

With rising fertilizer prices, and concerns about possible shortages, it pays to time our applications of anhydrous ammonia and manure well. When the value is high, the focus on management is even more important.

Anhydrous costs are reported to have risen to $850 or more per ton.

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Much of Iowa is currently abnormally dry or in some state of drought according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor. If dry field conditions persist, the potential for combine and field fires this fall could...

As corn has quickly reached maturity, the next hurdle of the 2021 growing season is harvest. Stalk quality will be a concern for fields across that state that experienced the stress of too much or not enough moisture. Alison Robertson recently wrote an...