Minnesota Crop News

  Attention Minnesota farmers and agricultural producers! Are you up to speed on the latest state employment regulations impacting your operation? In Episode #65 of MN CropCast, hosts David Nicolai and Seth Naeve sit down with Rob Holcomb, Regional  Extension  Educator, Farm Business Management to discuss a critical and timely topic: Minnesota's new Paid Leave Program. While traditional corporate employers might be accustomed to navigating complex leave programs, these recent state mandates represent uncharted territory for many farmers. If your operation relies on hired help and you are issuing W-2s, this episode is a must-listen. What you’ll learn in this episode: The Basics of the Mandate: A breakdown of the new Minnesota paid leave program (at the highest level) and how it applies to agricultural employers Who is Affected: Whether your focus is on crops or livestock, if you manage labor and issue     W-2s at year’s end, these rules apply to you. ...

Eric Yu, UMN Extension Crops Educator, David Nicolai, UMN Extension Crops Educator Spring conditions across Minnesota are finally allowing soybean planting to begin in many areas. As planters start to roll, now is the time to make sure your pre-emergence (PRE) herbicide program is in place. PRE herbicides remain one of the most important, and often underutilized, tools for managing weeds and protecting soybean yield potential. In recent years, many soybean acres across the Upper Midwest have relied heavily on POST-only herbicide programs. However, this approach is increasingly risky. The spread of herbicide-resistant weeds, including resistance to glyphosate and other commonly used POST chemistries such as ALS- and PPO-inhibitors, has made a one-pass POST strategy unreliable in many fields. With the recent confirmation of glufosinate-resistant waterhemp in Minnesota, we are now facing the very real possibility of waterhemp populations with little to no effective POST herbicide options ...

Join us for the launch of the 2026 season of University of Minnesota Extension's Strategic Farming: Field Notes!  The online series begins May 13 this year with discussion about herbicide options and economic decisions for weed management with Drs. Eric Yu and Tom Peters with UMN Extension. Webinars and podcasts continue throughout the growing season on Wednesdays from 8 to 8:30 a.m.  Crop producers and agricultural professionals face a host of challenges, including pest issues, agronomic concerns, and soil fertility questions. The U of MN Extension Strategic Farming program addresses your crop-related concerns through information-packed, research-based, informal discussions with specialists in the field. You can also ask questions directly to Extension faculty and staff during this program. Strategic Farming: Field Notes features live weekly online interactive discussions on cropping issues as they arise throughout the growing season.  The 2026 season kicks-off We...

By:  Jodi DeJong-Hughes, Extension educator With tighter margins, high input costs, and ongoing market uncertainty shaping spring decisions, every pass across the field deserves scrutiny. Rock rolling soybean fields can still play a role in improving harvest efficiency, but this year especially, it’s worth asking: where does it truly pay? Rolling can help push rocks below the cutter bar, smooth the field surface, and break up corn rootballs, benefits that can reduce harvest losses and protect equipment. But those gains need to be weighed against added fuel, labor, and machinery wear at a time when profitability is already under pressure. As highlighted in a recent article from University of Minnesota Extension ( z.umn.edu/SpringTillage26 ), minimizing unnecessary field passes is one of the most direct ways to manage costs this season. From an agronomic standpoint, timing remains critical. A three-year University of Minnesota study found soybeans can be safely rolled up to the third...

Photo: University of Minnesota Extension Brad and Jeff continue their discussion of variable rate nitrogen technology by zeroing in on the pre-sidedress nitrate test (PSNT). What are key differences between the PSNT and the pre- plant nitrate test (PPNT)? What growth stage should the crop reach before taking a PSNT? How have sampling and storage procedures evolved from past years? How variable can samples actually be within the same zone and between zones? What should farmers watch out for when interpreting test results? Do different methods of N application produce different PSNT results? How about timing? Manure? What's N's 'critical value' in Minnesota? All these answers and more in-depth discussion on today's episode of the Advancing Nitrogen Smart Podcast . Read the full transcript here Guests: Brad Carlson, Extension educator (Mankato) Jeff Vetsch, Lead researcher, Southern Research and Outreach Center (Waseca) Additional resources: What’s th...