Take Note of Soil Temperature
Current soil temperatures, important to germination and the fate of nitrogen, are tracked on an ISU Extension website.
Integrated Crop Management News
Links to these articles are strongly encouraged. Articles may be republished without further permission if published as written and if credit is given to the author, Integrated Crop Management News, and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. If articles are used in any other manner, permission from the author is required.
Early Planting and Soybean Disease Considerations
by XB Yang, Department of Plant Pathology
Blessed by good weather, crop planting in Iowa has begun smoothly. During the April 20 crop teleconference, Extension field agronomists reported good progress of corn planting and some soybean plantings before April 20 around Iowa. With the current weather outlook favorable for spring planting, many soybean fields are likely to be planted early (before the end of the first week of May).
Glyphosate Stewardship Guide Available
When it comes to glyphosate-resistant weeds, 'fix it before it's broken' is recommended management.
Alfalfa Weevil Hatch is Upon Us
By Rich Pope, Corn and Soybean Initiative and Jon Tollefson, Department of Entomology
The map below indicates the accumulated degree days for each of the nine Iowa crop reporting districts. Degree-day information indicates that alfalfa weevil larvae should be hatching this week in southern Iowa. In central Iowa counties, weevils should be hatching by the third week of April; and in northern Iowa, weevils should hatch the last full week of April. That means that fields in southern Iowa should be scouted now.
A 2009 Prediction for Stewart's Disease of Corn
Corn flea beetles must survive Iowa's cold winter months in order to spread bacterium that causes Stewart's disease of corn. Learn what the chances are that they survived.
April 13 Crops and Weather Report
On April 13, Doug Cooper , Extension communications specialist, interviewed Iowa State University Extension climatologist Elwynn Taylor, integrated pest management specialist Rich Pope and corn agronomist Roger Elmore for the weekly crops and weather update.
Extension climatologist Elwynn Taylor tells Cooper that La Niña appears to be making a comeback, maybe. The Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) has gained back some of its strength the past week or so.
Rich Pope says winter annual weeds need to be scouted in some parts of the state.
Soybean Seed Treatment
X.B. Yang, Department of Plant Pathology
Seed treatment was not a major production issue ten years ago because less than 3 percent of soybean planted in Iowa used seed treatment. Now the number is more than 50 percent, according to a survey. Such changes are associated with changes in soybean production. Increased cost of seeds and early planting in spring may be driving forces for such changes.
Will 2009 be a Soybean Aphid Year?
By Jon Tollefson, Department of Entomology
Field-Crop Extension Entomology Update
By Jon Tollefson, Department of Entomology
Dr. Erin Hodgson has been hired as state extension specialist for field crops, filling a vacancy left by Marlin Rice’s departure from Iowa State University in early February. Hodgson earned her PhD from the University of Minnesota. Her major professor was David Ragsdale and her dissertation was on the Population and Sampling of the Soybean Aphid. The sampling techniques and thresholds used by ISU Extension for the Asia soybean aphid come largely from her doctoral research.
Lessons from 2008 Corn Planting Date Studies
Roger Elmore and Lori Abendroth, Department of Agronomy