Minnesota Crop News

Jackie Estrem, UMN Extension Educator- Sustainable Agriculture, Stearns, Benton, Morrison, & Sherburne Counties, and Taylor Herbert, UMN Extension Educator- Crops, Wright, McLeod, & Meeker Counties The Alfalfa Harvest Alert Project, also called Scissor Cut, continued this week with samples taken on May 12th. Over the weekend, alfalfa grew quickly thanks to warm weather. There was no alfalfa weevil feeding or plant disease reported. Farms with high forage quality goals may be cutting soon. The goal of the Alfalfa Harvest Alert program is to alert growers to start the first cut of alfalfa when the crop is at a level of quality and yield potential that meets their specific needs. As a reminder, the goal is not to try and name the exact day of harvest. Rather the goal is to encourage growers who are busy with management of other crops to be more strategic with hay crop harvest as it relates to their needs. How to get harvest alert data The May 13th  Alfalfa Harvest Alert ...

The Field School for Ag Professionals will be held July 29 and 30 at the University of Minnesota Agriculture Experiment Station in St. Paul. This event is the premier summer training opportunity that combines hands-on, interactive training with real-world field scenarios to help you enhance your troubleshooting and crop management skills. Features A two-day program taught primarily in the field with real world scenarios. Hands-on activities examining current crop management, insect and diseases issues. Each subject is led by experienced instructors offering personalized instruction and small group activities. Certified Crop Advisor CEUs offered. Join us for a group outing at Target Field for a MN Twins game vs Red Sox on Tuesday, July 29. Ticket(s) available for purchase during online registration. Curriculum Detailed session descriptions and lists of instructors can be found on the event page . The first-day program focuses on core principles to build a strong foundation of skills and...

Jackie Estrem, UMN Extension Educator- Sustainable Agriculture, Stearns, Benton, Morrison, & Sherburne Counties, and Taylor Herbert, UMN Extension Educator- Crops, Wright, McLeod, & Meeker Counties The Alfalfa Harvest Alert Project, also called Scissor Cut, is now underway and going fast. The first samples were taken on May 5th and 8th, which is slightly earlier than in past years. A few warm days and adequate soil moisture made for some rapid growth over a short period of time. Some fields had some drowned-out spots from last year, but we saw no crown damage from the winter and stands are generally very good. There was no alfalfa weevil feeding reported. If warm conditions continue, we could see more rapid growth over the next week and first cutting could be coming quick depending on the farm’s goals. The goal of the Alfalfa Harvest Alert program is to alert growers to start the first cut of alfalfa when the crop is at a level of quality and yield potential that meets thei...

The wheat that was seeded between April 21st and the 26th in parts of NW Minnesota endured two major rain events immediately following seeding that resulted in ponding in some fields.  The first phase of germination is the uptake of water. Unfortunately, even temporary ponding is too much of a good thing and will generally result in the seed rotting rather than sprouting.  Consequently, emergence will be patchy, and the initial stand will be below par in areas of the field that were waterlogged for more than a day. Use the following guidelines to determine whether replanting is worthwhile: If the reduced stand is uniform (no big skips or holes), keep stands of 15 to 17 plants per square foot.  The crop still has ample time to tiller and compensate for less than ideal stands, especially if the weather stays cool. If skips are large (3 to 6 ft.), or holes are 4 to 6 feet in diameter, consider replanting or filling in those areas of the field.   To do a stand count...

The last few days, the weather has given us some dry sunny weather with high winds. It has been great to have the fields finally dry off and make strides in planting any remaining acres.   Unfortunately, this also exposed young small-grain seedlings to the same conditions. The daytime heat at the soil surface has caused heat canker. The tender young tissue at the soil surface has more or less been ‘cooked’, appearing as a yellow band that is slightly constricted (Photo 1). As the leaf elongates, this yellow band (1/8 - 1/4") moves upward and away from the soil surface.  Multiple bands can appear if the hot and dry weather lasts for several days, because of the high winds, the tips of leaves may break off at the yellow band, giving the field a ragged appearance. Damage from heat canker is temporary and should not affect further growth and development. Photo 1 – Barley seedlings with the yellow, constricted appearance that is symptomatic for heat canker (photo courte...

Phyllis Bongard, Educational content development and communications specialist, Jeff Coulter, Extension corn agronomist, and Matt Pfarr, Extension educator-crops With planting progressing across Minnesota, the kickoff session of Strategic Farming: Field Notes focused on strategies to optimize crop emergence. Guest speakers Dr. Jeff Coulter, Extension corn agronomist, and Matt Pfarr, Extension educator-crops, joined moderator Anthony Hanson, Extension educator-crops, for the May 7 webinar. Weather recap Most will remember the record-setting rainfall in June, 2024 that was followed by very dry fall and winter seasons. Fall tillage under these dry soil conditions was unlikely to contribute to compaction, but did add a fine-textured layer of dust to the soil surface. When combined with April nighttime temperatures averaging 10 degrees F below normal, soil warmup has been slow this spring. Soil temperatures are just now getting into the upper 50s F at the 2-inch seed furrow zone. Rainfall...