Minnesota Crop News

By: Vasudha Sharma, Extension irrigation specialist The number of irrigated acres in Minnesota is increasing as more and more growers look for ways to ensure high crop yields during dry years. This blog post provides an update on an ongoing field research study being conducted at two irrigated corn sites in Minnesota’s central sands region. I will focus on how different reduced irrigation strategies impact nitrate leaching and residual soil nitrate. After four years of data (one wet year and three dry years) at one of the sites, we’ve seen some interesting results on how different irrigation strategies could alter water usage and nitrate leaching losses, saving farmers money and benefiting the environment. Where is this study conducted? A field research study is being conducted at two locations in central Minnesota: The Sand Plain Research Farm in Becker, Minnesota, and the Rosholt Research Farm in Westport, Minnesota. Both sites are situated in the heart of Minnesota’s irrigated acres

  The following is reprinted with permission from Iowa State University Extension. Joshua Michel, Field Agronomist in northeastern Iowa, Iowa State University Extension Harvest season has started across most of the state and according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor , the majority of the state is abnormally dry with pockets of moderate drought in northeastern and southwestern Minnesota. These abnormally dry conditions could enhance the potential for combine and field fires this fall. Low relative humidity levels and high winds will further increase the risk of fires. Fires cause millions of dollars in property damage, including loss of machinery, crops, and time. Unfortunately, injuries to farm workers and firefighters may also occur. Modern combines are powerful machines, which means they can produce excessive amounts of heat. All it takes to start a fire is a single high-temperature source in the engine area or an overheated bearing to ignite some dry plant material. While it’s im

In this episode of Advancing Nitrogen Smart, Melissa Wilson, Extension manure management specialist joins Brad Carlson to discuss fall manure application. What are the most important dos and don'ts of fall application? How much time can nitrification inhibitors buy you after application? What's the optimum soil temperature for application, and what if you can't wait? What are characteristics of manure from different sources, and how can they work to your advantage?  TRANSCRIPT Guests: Brad Carlson, Extension educator (Mankato) Melissa Wilson, Extension manure management specialist (St. Paul) Additional resources: Nitrogen availability of different manure types: What we know and what we are researching Tips for fall manure application and how to avoid nutrient loss Nitrification inhibitors and manure: Do they work? Introducing ManureDB: A new way to view manure variability and trends  Everything manure: Midwest experts answer common questions heading into fall  --- Click h

 Matt Leavitt, Agronomy specialist, UMN Forever Green You may have read about the small seed making a big stir in Minnesota , winter camelina. Winter camelina is a winter-annual broadleaf oilseed crop in the mustard family (Brassicaceae).  Its small seed size and excellent winter hardiness across all of Minnesota makes it a useful and economical cover crop alone or in mixture with other species, like winter rye. It is also increasingly in demand as a biofuel feedstock with unique properties for low carbon jet fuel. In fact, the first airplane fueled in part by sustainable aviation fuel took off from MSP airport on September 24 marking a dramatic step forward for Minnesota-grown renewable biofuels. Cargill is making significant investments in winter camelina as a crop in the upper Midwest, piloting 2000 acres in Minnesota & North Dakota in 2023-2024 and offering contracts to significantly expand acres in 2024-2025 across Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin. W

By: Melissa Wilson, Extension Specialist in Manure Management Have you heard the phrase “manure is the gift that keeps on giving”? It refers to many different aspects of manure, but the gift of nitrogen is one of them. The phrase refers to how quickly, or not so quickly, the nitrogen releases over time. This depends on several factors but there are still some things we are looking into through our research. Animal species and storage Manure nitrogen can come in two broad forms: organic and inorganic. The inorganic form is primarily ammonium, which is immediately plant-available once land-applied, similar to a chemical fertilizer. The organic form is nitrogen that is tied up in organic matter and carbon. It has to be decomposed and released by microorganisms in the soil before it transforms into inorganic, plant-available nitrogen. Thus, organic nitrogen is more “slow-release” – the gift that keeps on giving! When we test manure for nitrogen content, we find different ratios of organic

Angie Peltier, Extension educator - crops Figure. Soybean roots. Yellow arrows point to swollen female SCN; white arrow points to a  larger nitrogen fixing nodule. Photo: Angie Peltier Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is a microscopic worm that is attracted to and infests soybean roots where it uses the water and sugars that the soybean plant takes up to develop leaves, flowers, pods and beans (Figure) for its own growth and development. Capable of causing significant yield loss without alerting a producer of its presence, SCN caused an estimated $7.32 million in lost yield in 2023 in Minnesota (Crop Protection Network, 2024), making it the top yield-limiting pathogen of soybean in Minnesota and throughout the Midwest. One of the most sickening feelings is to visit a field to assist a farmer or crop consultant with diagnosing a soybean production issue only to have to break the news to the unsuspecting that the field is infested with SCN. The reasons my 'hair is on fire' regarding