Agronomists’ Notebook
Whatever it takes means our work doesn’t stop once your seed is in the ground. Check back here regularly for helpful articles and advice from our expert on-staff agronomists. They understand local soil conditions, climate and pest pressures and can help answer your questions or deal with issues.
Focus on Profit Potential
Many growers this past year had made the logical decision to cut back on fertilizer applications if their soil test values were adequate. Fertilizer prices prompted the decision to reduce input ...
Older Posts
The Black Cutworm Plague of 2011 – or Not
The word is out that black cutworm moth numbers have been at or near record high levels this spring. Here are a few thoughts: Black cutworm lifecycle: Moths fly into our region on storms from the southwest (Late March through mid-May) They ...
The Final Push
Along with well above normal heat units this summer, the late season drought has propelled crops into "fast finish". It is early according to the calendar, but forget the calendar and look at crop development. The crop is progressing rapidly ...
Corn and Soybean Scouting Calendars for Insects and Disease
No doubt, it has been a challenging year with everything from frost, hail, floods and tornados. The bright side is that many of us have been through tough springs before and in the end things turned out better than expected. ...
Why the Yellow Corn ??
In the last few days much of the early planted corn has turned "ugly" - yellow, some leaf striping, perhaps some unevenness. Many of these fields looked good to excellent prior to this current stretch. What is going on? I think ...
Evaluating Corn Stands
After what seemed like an incredible start to the planting season, mother nature has once again reminded us how fickle our springtime weather can be. As a result, we are now looking at corn and soybeans which have been planted ...
Early Spring? Be Aware
Mild temperatures, strong southerly winds, weedy fields and certain cover crops in April and May provide an environment conducive for economic infestations of True Armyworm (TA) and Black Cutworm (BCW). BCW predominately migrate to our region from our southern states in ...
Planning for Planting: What about Ear Molds in 2010?
2009 might be history, but the moldy and mycotoxin-infested corn saga will continue for months. Many growers are struggling to get rid of 2009 corn, or are taking significant dollar loss due to vomitoxin levels and associated price dock at ...
Corn Ear Molds Showing Up
We have seen numerous ear rots, or molds in various locations. The most prevalent one seems to be diplodia. We've seen some gibberella and some of what we believe to be penicillium molds (not positively identified). Corn ear molds can develop ...
Arrested Ear Syndrome
Well, it has shown up again - perhaps the worst we've seen in at least several years. I'm talking about arrested ear syndrome (also called blunt ear or beer can ear). I prefer the term arrested ear syndrome because I think ...