By Angie Peltier, UMN Extension crops educator & Robert Koch, UMN Extension soybean entomology specialist On March 22, 2023, Robert Koch joined UMN Extension crops educator Anthony Hanson for a conversation about new and not-so-new soybean pests in Minnesota. This was an episode in the 2023 Strategic Farming: Let’s talk crops! series of webinars. To watch this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srH9XWjpy9Q Insecticides labeled for managing soybean aphid Figure 1. Soybean aphid adult giving live birth to nymph. Photo: James Menger Soybean aphids (Figure 1) are by no means a new pest of Minnesota soybean; it has been more than 20 years since its arrival in the state. What is new about this pest is the shrinking list of insecticides that remain effective and labeled for use. The US Environmental Protection Agency revoked the tolerances for the organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos (e.x. Lorsban, etc.). In 2022, it became no longer legal to use this active ingredient on cr
Photo credit: Melissa Wilson/UMN Extension By: Melissa Wilson, Extension manure management specialist; Yuzhi Li, Associate professor in alternative and organic swine production; and Curt Reese, Agronomy and soil scientist at the West Central Research and Outreach Center Key Points: As one part of a larger study, we’re growing hybrid rye using swine manure as the primary nutrient source In the first year of the study, the use of liquid swine manure tended to produce higher grain yields than solid or composted swine manure Application rates that supplied 60 to 120 pounds per acre of first year available nitrogen optimized yield without significantly overapplying phosphorus and potassium Hybrid rye grain and straw produced for the larger study will be tested as an alternative feed and bedding source for organic swine production What we did: Hybrid rye is being grown in Minnesota as an alternative to traditional winter rye varieties. In organic production systems, the grain may be used as