Minnesota Crop News

Anthony Hanson, Extension Educator - Field Crops  Integrated Pest Management David Nicolai, Extension Educator -  Institute for Ag Professionals Program Coordinator Late summer and early fall is time ensure infested and spoiled grain in bins from previous harvests won’t cause more problems for this year’s harvest.  Over the summer, insect infestations may have grown in grain bins, especially in areas where spoiled grain accumulated even after being mostly emptied (Fig. 1). Keeping good sanitation practices prior to putting the next harvest into storage will help break pest cycles and reduce the likelihood of issues with spoilage or price docking at the elevator. Once grain is in the bin, options to manage existing insects are very limited, especially grain that is going to be stored through the following spring or summer. Figure 1. Insect feeding damage in spoiled corn. Photo: A. Hanson Integrated pest management for insects in stored grains is closely tied to sanitation ...

Cereal rye seeded with a drill 9/17 after corn silage harvest at Rosemount in 2020.  Picture was taken on 11/6, or 7 weeks after seeding.  Photo: Liz Stahl/U of M Extension By: Liz Stahl & Jared Goplen, Extension educators - crops Earlier this season, a lack of soil moisture across much of the state raised concerns about the potential for successful cover crop establishment this fall. Most areas still need more moisture to recharge the soil profile but recent rains have improved the moisture status overall. This has also improved the likelihood for successful establishment of a cereal rye cover crop this fall. One of the best fits for a cereal rye cover crop is following harvest of corn silage, a small grain, or a canning crop when going to soybean the next year. These rotations provide a wider window for establishment before frost, setting the rye up for increased growth in the spring. In a corn/soybean rotation, seeding cereal rye after corn, either after harvest ...

Jared Goplen, Extension educator-crops and Debalin Sarangi, Extension weed specialist Palmer amaranth in a Tennessee field. Note the long terminal seedhead. As we approach harvest this year, be on the lookout for Palmer amaranth, September's Weed of the Month . Palmer amaranth is on Minnesota’s prohibited noxious weed and seed list with the intention to eradicate it before it becomes widely established in the state. Now is a good time of the year to scout for it, when mature Palmer amaranth plants are easier to distinguish from other closely-related pigweeds like waterhemp. Identification is key Palmer amaranth is closely related to other amaranth (pigweed) species and it can be challenging to differentiate between them during the early vegetative stages. When scouting for Palmer amaranth at this time of year, be on the lookout for pigweeds with these distinguishing characteristics:  Look for long, terminal seedheads or pollen heads, up to 2-3 feet long, which are usually longer ...

Aaron Lorenz, Soybean breeder, Senyu Chen, Plant pathologist, Seth Naeve, Extension soybean agronomist, and Bruce Potter Extension IPM specialist Background SCN-resistant soybean variety on left and SCN-susceptible variety on right. The most common source of soybean cyst nematode (SCN) resistance in commercial soybean varieties adapted to Minnesota is PI 88788. Over 90% of the varieties entered into the 2021 UMN Variety trials carried this single source of SCN resistance. The PI 88788 resistance source provides good resistance to some races of SCN. Over time, however, the overuse of this resistance source has led to shifts in SCN populations to those that are able to overcome PI 88788 resistance. There has been increased interest in alternative sources of SCN resistance such as Peking and PI 89772. The commercial availability of these varieties adapted to Minnesota has gradually increased in recent years. However, little independent information is available on their actual resistance t...