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Showing posts from August, 2021

Additional forage resources for drought-stressed crops

While drought-stressed crops can be utilized as forage for livestock, there are many factors to consider before harvesting. To help producers navigate through these issues, SDSU Extension and the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition released the “Salvaging Drought Stressed Crops” video series. Each farm and ranch faces its own unique challenges and this information is intended to be applied as producers see fit to their own personal situations. Use the links below to view each video or visit the entire playlist on YouTube. Grazing Corn Keeping the Bottom Line in Mind Nitrate Considerations and Testing Protecting the Soil Silage, Earlage and High-moisture Corn Using Soybeans as Forage Water Quality and Testing Link to SDSU Extension page: https://extension.sdstate.edu/agriculture

Tips for fall manure application and how to avoid nutrient loss

Mary Keena/NDSU By: Chryseis Modderman, Extension manure management educator & Melissa Wilson, Extension manure management specialist Fall manure applications are right around the corner, so here are some reminders on best practices for manure applications and avoiding nutrient loss. Application tips Sample your manure and get it tested. Manure is a variable product, so knowing the nutrient levels in the manure is important. Don’t trust the “book value” manure nutrient tables. Those are just estimates and averages, and your manure almost certainly differs in nutrient content. You can learn more about accurate sampling by visiting our Manure sampling and nutrient analysis web page. Soil sample. While we’re on the subject of nutrient analysis sampling, you will also need to have a recent analysis of your soil. The soil test tells you which nutrients are needed, while the manure test tells you how much of the nutrients you have. Both are an essential piece of the manure application p

Preharvest weed control: Mow fence line weeds and scout fields now to prevent seed production

 Jared Goplen and Dave Nicolai, Extension educators-crops Part I in a three-part series Photo 1. Mow fence lines now to minimize deposits to the weed seed bank. Photo: Jared Goplen. Harvest will soon be in full swing. Take the time now to mow fence line weeds or field edges to prevent or minimize seed production. Field edges are often where weed infestations start. By eliminating fence line weeds, we prevent combine harvesters from picking up weed seeds from the field edges and pulling them into the field where they can be further spread by harvesting and tillage equipment. Most weeds common to corn and soybean fields are in the flowering and seed development stages of their life cycle. This means that there is still time to control some weeds before they can produce viable seed. Viable seeds may have already been produced by early-maturing broadleaf weeds like lambsquarters, kochia, and redroot pigweed. Later-maturing weeds, like giant and common ragweed, are still pollinating in man

Late-season scouting for grasshoppers in soybeans and alfalfa

Anthony Hanson, Ian MacRae, Bruce Potter, and Robert Koch Grasshopper populations have become more noticeable this year, especially along field edges, pastures, and CRP acres. Due to the hot dry conditions, population densities earlier in the year were similar to what we’d typically see in August in some areas, which has led to sustained or even higher populations as we now move towards the end of the growing season. Earlier this summer, some parts of the state, such as northwestern Minnesota, did have treatable levels of grasshoppers in small grains. While grasshoppers are making their presence known this year, presence alone does not necessarily mean they are causing economically significant damage in soybeans or forages (Fig. 1). Insecticide options may also be limited as harvest season approaches. Figure 1. Red-legged grasshopper on soybean. Photo: Anthony Hanson There are multiple species of grasshoppers in Minnesota that can commonly be found in field cro

Forage testing

Emma Severns and Troy Salzer, Extension educators-Ag production systems, and Jared Goplen, Extension educator-crops This growing season's drought has been particularly challenging for livestock producers as forage shortages have been coupled with nitrate concerns.  Forage quality testing is more important than ever this year to ensure forages are meeting your livestock's nutrient requirements and to also determine the levels of nitrates in your forages. The results from your forage analysis can help you strategically plan rations, allowing you to make the best use of your forages. Proper sampling of a forage is especially important when feedstuffs may be variable, which is the case in many areas of Minnesota. A representative sample allows you to determine the nutritional value of your forage and determine whether or not there are toxic levels of nitrates, mycotoxins, etc. in your forages. Sampling procedures vary depending on the type of forage and if your sampling is done p

Soybean gall midge update

 Bruce Potter, IPM specialist Figure 1. Distribution of the soybean gall midge as of August 18, 2021. Source:  https://soybeangallmidge.org/. Soybean gall midge (SGM) has been found in 139 counties in five states with 25 new counties this year (Figure 1). Overall, 2021 crop injury from soybean gall midge in Minnesota has been less than previous years. However, as the second larval generation developed during late July and August 2021, infestations became easier to locate and the soybean gall midge has now been detected in 12 more Minnesota counties. These new county infestations were not at high SGM population densities. For most of these MN detects, dead or wilted plants (Figure 2) did not provide clues. We needed to look beneath normal-appearing canopies for symptoms at the base of stems (Figure 3). In some cases, brittle stems made finding the larvae easier but even then, only a few infested plants were typically found in these fields. For example, a sharp-eyed farmer in Traverse

Can you take a nitrogen credit following sweet corn?

By: Paul McDivitt, U of M Extension communications specialist Since sweet corn is harvested as an immature crop, a lot of the nitrogen (N) the crop takes up during the growing season remains in the plant residue left on the surface. Does that N become available to the following crop? Currently, the University of Minnesota does not recommend taking an N credit for processing sweet corn, grown on over 100,000 acres in the state. However, that may be changing after a new study. U of M researchers looked at this issue in a three-year study in Waseca, Minnesota from 2017 to 2020. They found an N credit for sweet corn of around 20 pounds of N per acre, 15 pounds less than the N credit following soybean. Sweet corn harvest (Charlie Rohwer/U of M Extension) “This means that farmers can potentially save money on nitrogen fertilizer if sweet corn is the previous crop,” said Carl Rosen, lead researcher on the study and a U of M Extension nutrient management specialist. “It's not a huge cred

Environmental Protection Agency’s Cancellation of Chlorpyrifos Tolerances: Alternatives for Management of Key Crop Pests

Robert Koch (UMN), Theresa Cira (MDA), Raj Mann (MDA), Bruce Potter (UMN), Anthony Hanson (UMN) In a pre-publication of a final rule released on August 18, 2021, the EPA announced   that the agency is revoking all tolerances for chlorpyrifos. A “tolerance” represents the maximum level of pesticide residue legally allowed in or on raw agricultural commodities and processed foods. Revoking of tolerances will stop the use of chlorpyrifos on all food and feed, taking effect six months after the final rule is published. See 40 CFR Part 180 for a list of chlorpyrifos tolerances on food commodities. The pre-publication announcement from EPA indicates that growers can still use chlorpyrifos through the end of the 2021 growing season.   Non-agricultural uses are unaffected by the final tolerance rule.  Background and Decision Chlorpyrifos is an active ingredient in many commonly used insecticides such as Chlorpyrifos, Govern, Hatchet, Lorsban, Lorsban Advanced, Vulcan, Warhawk, Whirlwin