Minnesota Crop News

The Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) and the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS) have officially published the 2020 Field Crop Trials. Visit https://z.umn.edu/2020croptrials to see variety trials for all the crops. Follow these links to find the alfalfa , corn silage , barley , corn grain , oat , spring wheat , winter rye , winter wheat and soybean trials directly. Due to severe water damage in the field, the UMN will not be providing Canola field crop trials data for the 2020 season. Please refer to previous years trials for recommendations which you will find at canola . About the Crop Variety Trials When farmers are ready to make seed choices, the University of Minnesota field crop trials offer unbiased and trustworthy information. The annual Field Crop Trials are one of the keyways MAES works to bring valuable research into the hands of farmers and ultimately help improve farm profitability, improve the economy and overall quality

If you apply pesticides on your employer's or customer's land or sites and need to recertify for Categories A and C in 2020, this workshop is for you. Join us for the LAST CHANCE 2020 recertification training offered only on December 11, 2020 from 7:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. The registration fee is $145 per person. Click on the registration button in the link below to register for this live, remote event. The registration deadline is Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 5pm. https://extension.umn.edu/pesticide-safety-and-certification/commercial-noncommercial-pesticide-applicators How it works Workshop check in is at 7:45 a.m. This is a live-remote Zoom Workshop. In order to participate and receive recertification credits, you must have the following: An internet-capable device such as a laptop, desktop or tablet with a camera and microphone. A valid email address. Your pesticide applicator license.  To receive credit, you must be present throughout the full Zoom program and remain connected

Register by December 4 to ensure your spot for the University of Minnesota Crop & Pest Management Connect, the three-day online educational conference for ag professionals scheduled for December 8 - 10. Certified crop advisors can earn up to 12 continuing education units in soil & water, nutrient management  pest management and crop management over the three day period. Twenty-four agronomic update presentations provide a strong educational program with a wealth of pest, crop and fertilizer management topics. You can see the full agenda, speaker bios and abstracts on the Crop & Pest Management Connect webpage.  Each of the 24 short presentations will be followed by a live question and answer session, so that participants can engage with the academic speakers from Minnesota and surrounding states. The CPM Connect will run online via Zoom from 10:00 a.m.to 2:30 p.m.  December 8 highlights Corn topics will be covered on December 8 and include hybrid selection, nitrogen and

 by Jeff Coulter, Extension corn agronomist Hybrid selection is one of the most important factors affecting corn yield and profitability. In trials where many corn hybrids are compared, it is common for grain yield to vary by 30 to 50 bushels per acre or more among hybrids.  Seed costs should also be considered when selecting corn hybrids, as several hybrids often produce yields that are among the highest in a trial. Additionally, it is important to stay current with corn hybrid selection, as the rate of genetic yield improvement by year of hybrid commercial release is nearly 2 bushels per acre. Hybrid trial results To select corn hybrids, consider trial results from many reputable sources including universities, grower associations, cooperative elevators, technical colleges, farmer groups, and seed companies. Trials that have all hybrids replicated at least two or three times and compare hybrids from multiple companies are of particular value. Select hybrids that consistently perform

by Lisa Behnken, Extension educator - crops Performance comparisons of early (1.0 to 1.8) and late (1.9 to 2.4) maturity soybeans in southeastern Minnesota are now available. Soybean evaluated in this trial were tolerant to one or more of the following herbicides: glyphosate, glufosinate, dicamba, 2,4-D, and/or a specific HPPD herbicide. Traits for each entry are included in tables 1-4. Yields for 16 early maturity entries ranged from 56.9 to 69.7 bushels per acre and from 56.2 to 70.4 bushels per acre for 16 late maturity entries. The study was conducted near Rochester, Minnesota (Lawler site) on a Port Byron silt loam: Planted  -  May 31, 2020 with a 4-row John Deere planter equipped with cone units Seeding rate  - 165,000 seeds per acre planted at a depth of 1.5 inches Row spacing -  30-inch rows Plot size -  4 rows by 22 feet Herbicides -  Warrant Ultra + Pursuit / Glyphosate + Select Max Insecticide - Sefina applied to control soybean aphids on August 14, 2020 Harvest -  Mach

By: Lindsay Pease, Extension nutrient management specialist, Northwest Research and Outreach Center If you haven’t heard about the 4Rs, this is the time to jump on board. The 4R Nutrient Stewardship concept is centered on the idea that the goal of soil fertility to apply the right source of nutrient, at the right rate , at the right time , and in the right place . The 4R framework is more of a soil fertility philosophy than a prescription. The exact soil fertility management plan will vary from farm to farm. But the overall goal is the same. If you are applying fertilizer in the most efficient, economical way possible for your farm, then both your farm and your community benefit. Soil is not as good at holding nutrients as we would like to believe. Over-time, the ‘build-and-maintain’ approach to fertilizer management leads to nutrients leaking off the field during heavy rainfall events in surface runoff or tile drainage discharge. As we have seen around the country, excess nutrients i