Prepare for this year’s Planting Season by proactively taking care of your planter technology setup by leveraging essential pre-season maintenance and calibration to ensure field-ready performance. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach recommend a structured approach to prevent costly in-season issues and improve overall efficiency and yield. The agricultural season can be viewed as a continuous loop of preparation, execution, and review.

Key phases include:

As the 2026 planting season approaches, the focus for every row crop farmer in Iowa is clear: emergence is the name of the game. Uniform germination and consistent spacing are the foundation of a high-yielding crop, ensuring every plant has equal access to the sunlight, water, and nutrients it needs to thrive. To achieve this, your planter must be precision-tuned.

AMES, Iowa – Members, farmers and ag business professionals are invited to attend the North Central Iowa Research Association annual meeting on Wednesday, March 25, at the Northern Research Farm, located at 310 South Main Street, Kanawha.  

The association, in partnership with Iowa State University, oversees the Northern Research Farm and works with ISU Extension and Outreach to provide agronomic research, demonstrations and educational events.  

Southern rust is a leaf disease of corn that is caused by the fungal pathogen, Puccinia polysora. The disease is recognized as clusters of small, circular (1/16” diameter) spots that produce thousands of bright orange urediniospores on the upper side of the leaf (Fig. 1). With southern rust, there are multiple disease cycles during the growing season.

This winter’s erratic weather, swinging from –30°F wind chills to unseasonably warm temperatures in the 50s, has left many wanting spring and ready to get back in the fields. Even though the groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter, temperatures have been trending upward. Over the next week, highs are expected to stay above freezing during the day and drop below freezing at night. These natural freeze–thaw cycles signal the slow transition into spring.