Disease Management in a Flooding Season
By XB Yang, Department of Plant Pathology
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.
Rainfall has Affected Hay and Hay-Crop Silage Harvest
By Stephen K. Barnhart, Department of Agronomy
Hay is an agricultural product that varies greatly in nutritional quality. The ‘hay market’ frequently uses descriptive terms like ‘dairy quality,, ‘beef-cow quality’ or more quantitative terms like ‘premium,’ ‘good’, and ‘fair’; which have some forage testing guidelines to place hay lots in these categories.
Nitrogen Loss – How Does it Happen?
By John Sawyer, Department of Agronomy
Much of Iowa is experiencing excessively wet conditions this spring. With the continued large rainfalls and flooding conditions, nitrogen (N) loss is an issue. While the wet period early this spring had an influence on N in the soil, excessively wet conditions now are especially critical for N losses due to warm soils and considerable conversion of applied fertilizer and manure N to nitrate.
Summer Flooding of Hay Fields and Pastures
By Stephen K. Barnhart, Department of Agronomy
Most forage crops perform best when soils have adequate, but not excessive, soil moisture. Standing water, flowing water and waterlogged soils following heavy summer rainstorms or extended periods of higher than normal rainfall patterns can all cause management concerns for forage crops.
Management Suggestions
Economic Impact of Delayed and Prevented Planting
By William Edwards, Department of Economics
Most crop producers know that to achieve optimum yields it is important to plant early. However, in years like this when cold weather or frequent rains prevented tillage and planting from being completed, some adjustments may be made to the amount of coverage provided by Multiple Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) as well as other types of crop insurance. These adjustments are subject to revision each year by the Risk Management Agency and crop insurance vendors.
SCN Confirmed for First Time in Lyon County
By Greg Tylka, Department of Plant Pathology
Research and extension personnel in Iowa have tracked soybean cyst nematode (SCN) infestations by county since initial discovery of the nematode in Winnebago County in 1978.
Stalk Borers Set to Invade Border Rows
By Marlin Rice and Rich Pope, Department of Entomology
Stalk borers are notorious for killing or stunting corn rows next to fences, grassed waterways and conservation terraces. To stop this damage, fields must be scouted and an insecticide applied on a timely basis before the larvae have an opportunity to tunnel into the growing point of the young plants.
June is Bustin' Out All Over!
And then it rained, and rained some more. Heavy and severe thunderstorms were generated by a lingering front that parked over Iowa for the bulk of the week. Consequently, little field work was accomplished in most fields in Iowa.
Assessing Hail Injury in Corn
By Roger Elmore and Lori Abendroth, Department of Agronomy
Storms on June 4 and 5 not only brought more ‘unwelcomed’ rain but also damaging winds and destructive hail. Variation currently exists in corn development across Iowa, ranging from emerged to the sixth leaf stage. Vegetative stages are determined and most often referred to based on the leaf-collar method developed by Iowa State agronomists.
Heavy Rain, Soil Erosion and Nutrient Losses
By Mahdi Al Kaisi, Department of Agronomy, and Matt Helmers, Department of Ag and BioSystems Engineering
As we write this article spring rains are coming hard and fast causing substantial soil erosion when soils are most vulnerable because of degraded crop residue cover, soil preparation by tillage and no crop canopy.