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Many people have been asking me about little black bugs biting them this summer. Have you experienced this? I would have to guess they would be minute pirate bugs, also known as insidious flower bugs.

Palmer amaranth has been identified in newly-seeded conservation plantings in more than 30 Iowa counties, and we would not be surprised if the actual number is double that. The number of Palmer amaranth plants per acre has typically been low enough (<250 plants per acre) to make physical...

Seems like I have written an article on stalk rot about every year for the last five or six seasons. Luckily, for the most part, the last few years it was a “heads up” about a relatively small amount of fields that were having lodging issues. However, this year it sure seems like stalk integrity...

Safety is always a priority for farmers at harvest, but this year may push us harder than most. If our current wet weather pattern continues into the fall, it could be a muddy, difficult 2016 harvest season.

I tell students in my ID class that weed identification is easy since very few species have traits that allow them to persist in disturbed habitats, thus you run into the same weeds over and over. After a few years in the business, you seldom encounter a weed you haven’t dealt with before. That...

Corn is nearing the end of its maturity here in northeast Iowa, where most of it is in between R5.75 (3/4 milk line) and R6 (physiological maturity), with the late planted fields at or past R5.5 (1/2 milk line). With all of the moisture that we’ve seen here in this area of the state, we have...

The early signs of corn and soybean in particular ready for harvest are around the corner, and it is time to think about your next season conservation plans.

Much of the corn that was planted in mid-April is mature or nearly mature. Some hybrids really progressed a lot this past week (Sept. 5-Sept. 12). Corn planted in early May and mid-May is about 1/2 to 3/4 milk line. I think I am seeing some of the...

As you venture around the countryside this time of year you might notice the presence of a plant with white flowers along the edge of woodlands. There is a good chance this plant is white snakeroot, a perennial in the Asteraceae (sunflower family). The plant is adapted to shady areas with low...

The first step in managing any pest is correct identification. For Palmer amaranth, we have stressed the need to examine the inflorescences of female plants for the presence of the large, sharp bracts. Farmers/agronomists are not accustomed to examining flowers since almost all weeds can be...

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach field agronomists report crop conditions in your area of the state.

A new FACTS (Forecast and Assessment of Cropping sysTemS) forecast occurred on August 11, 2016. The forecast can be found at: http://crops.extension.iastate.edu/facts/weather.

The weather this growing season...