The Source for Iowa Crop Production News

5/23/2012 - Producers need to be on the lookout now for rootworm egg hatch, damping off, and other establishment problems.

5/22/2012 - Farmers ande crop scouts can use new crop scouting cards from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach as a tool for record keeping and identification of crop issues.

5/21/2012 - The 2012 predicted corn rootworm egg hatch is about two weeks ahead of the 2011 growing season. Most of the state will approach 50 percent egg hatch within 7 to 14 days depending on the temperature.

5/17/2012 - Been leaf beetles will slowly move from current feeding spots to soybeans as they emerge this month. Some research plots around southern and central Iowa are showing numbers feeding on unifoliates.

5/16/2012 - Several reports of losses in corn stand due to seedling disease are being reported from eastern Iowa. Most of the seedling disease issues that are being reported are from fields that were planted April 23 to 27, just before we had a period of cold wet conditions and soil temperatures dipped back down below 50 F.

5/16/2012 - Cooperators are needed in 2012 to monitor traps and record data to the Iowa State University Western Bean Cutworm Monitoring Network website.

5/15/2012 - The long corn planting season this year – from mid-March through May has the benefit of spreading risk, but producers must be mindful of growth stages.

5/14/2012 - Conservation planning is becoming increasingly necessary, especially with the current weather challenges we are experiencing and the unpredictability, intensity and duration of rain events.

5/14/2012 - Managing conservation systems at the right field moisture is a critical factor to ensure successful outcomes.

5/13/2012 - There are reports of seedling growth problems in some parts of Iowa already this year, related to Imbibitional chilling damage and some variable emergence.

5/11/2012 - Clarke McGrath, extension field agronomist, discusses the severe soil erosion in southwest Iowa.

5/8/2012 - The rapid pace of planting in late April followed by rain has resulted in many fields having emerged corn before preemergence. These fields should be priority for action.

5/8/2012 - About 10 percent of stalk borer larvae can begin moving to corn after accumulating 1,300 to 1,400 degree days. Part of southern Iowa hit this degree day benchmark over the weekend; central and northern Iowa should reach this mark mid-month. This is about three weeks earilier than last year.

5/3/2012 - Anyone who is involved with the rental market for Iowa farmland knows that rental rates have been pushed significantly higher by the favorable corn and soybean prices that farmers have enjoyed since 2010. This trend continued in 2012.

5/1/2012 - As of Sunday, USDA-NASS reported half of Iowa’s corn lay in seed beds, the other half in seed bags. Two questions are being asked. Is the corn planting window closing? What about corn that is already planted?

5/1/2012 - Producers with soybean fields that have dampening-off can contribute to the ongoing study of seedling diseases to identify oomycete pathogens.

4/30/2012 - Spring rains come with unexpected quantities and force, causing significant amounts of soil erosion to unprotected cropland. Spring is the most critical time for soil erosion because of degraded crop residue, tillage in preparation for planting and lack of crop canopy.

4/26/2012 - Fuzzy brown moths are flitting around Iowa in great numbers - but so far no crop pests have been among the specimens submitted for diagnosis.

4/25/2012 - Predictions of cutting dates (the date when black cutworm larvae are likely to be damaging corn) are based on recorded peak flights which took place near the end of March and approximately two weeks later in Iowa.

4/25/2012 - The Iowa State University spring survey of subsoil moisture in northwest Iowa indicates below normal amounts of subsoil moisture in most areas.

4/23/2012 - The online Corn Nitrogen Rate Calculator tool allows determination of nitrogen (N) application rates for corn production and is helpful in determining the effect of fertilizer and corn price on needed rates.

4/20/2012 - Crop residue removal—what effect does it have on corn yield and soil quality? That’s a question quite often asked these days.

4/18/2012 - Recent rain brings another challenge for farmers, especially in fields conventionally tilled last fall or early this spring. In addition to potential soil erosion and damages to soil structure rainfall can cause, there is potential for soil crust.

4/18/2012 - Planting corn into cool soils increases variability not only of emergence, but also of plant to plant sizes and development stages. Variability in plant size – whether from cool soil temperatures or from frost - will affect plant-to-plant competition and reduce yield.

4/13/2012 - Iowa State University Research and Demonstration Farms and ISU Extension have hired two agricultural specialists to expand the ISU Farmer Assisted Research and Management, or ISU FARM, project.

4/11/2012 - A sterile hybrid, Giant Miscanthus is most commonly planted from rhizome pieces when the soil temperatures have reached 50 F. Here are some things to consider if you are propagating and/or planting rhizomes this spring.

4/9/2012 - Low temperatures, whether visible frost is present or not, may affect the growth of both established forage plants, as well as newly emerged seedlings.

4/9/2012 - The exceptionally warm spring has alfalfa growth well ahead of normal, with some farmers expecting to harvest first crop in April. Harvest should be much sooner this spring, but when?

4/6/2012 - Bees are susceptible to many broad spectrum insecticides, but how are they getting exposed to a chemistry largely used for seed treatments? Christian Krupke, a field crops entomologist at Purdue University, and several others took a closer look at how honey bees might be interacting with neonicotinoids. Common examples of neonicotinoids include: clothianidin (Poncho ®), thiamethoxam (Cruiser ®), and imidacloprid (Gaucho ®).

4/4/2012 - The Risk Management Agency (USDA) has some specific rules about early planted crops with regard to crop insurance coverage. For each insurable crop RMA has set an “early planting date.” Acres planted before these dates are no longer eligible for replant coverage payments should it be necessary to replant them.