Minnesota Crop News

This hands-on, in-field program emphasizing crop and pest management diagnostic skill-building will help you enhance your troubleshooting and crop management skills. 

Bruce Potter, IPM specialist Figure 1. Black cutworm moth season captures to  May 10, 2024. Shading represents the maximum  two-night captures for trap(s) in the county. Migrating black cutworm (BCW) moths continue to arrive in MN, based on the work of a network of pheromone traps run by cooperators which has been tracking their arrival. The earliest significant capture occurred in Brown Count April 8. Since then, trap locations across southern Minnesota have had significant captures (Figure 1). Some of these, particularly in the Minnesota River Valley, continue to be unusually high. This week, even Polk County, the northern most trap in the cooperative trapping network, had a significant capture. The trap network indicates, but does not guarantee, the potential for greater than usual black cutworm activity, and over a wide area. The larvae from moth arrivals before April 17 will be at, or near 2nd instar. These larvae will still be too small to cut corn, instead feeding on leaves of

Liz Stahl, Extension Educator - Crops After rains put a halt to planting this season, significant progress has been made over the past week where conditions allowed. Drs. Jeff Coulter, Extension corn agronomist, and Seth Naeve, Extension soybean agronomist, discussed what farmers should be looking out for where crops were planted early as well as where seed is still in the bag on the May 15 Strategic Farming: Field Notes session. They were joined by moderator Dave Nicolai, Extension Educator –Crops. Corn updates Early planted corn has emerged Around mid-April, farmers were faced with the decision to plant or not to plant as soil conditions were good as well as the weather. After this time, however, there was a two-to-three-day window where daily air temperatures dipped below freezing. Although stands have been a little more spotty, the earliest planted corn has been emerging around the same time as corn planted around April 22. Upon closer inspection, some of the seeds from pale

Craig Sheaffer, Extension forage agronomist Figure 1. Alfalfa shoot emergence in March 2024. At this stage exposed vegetation is mostly leaves with little stem elongation. We have had no reports of widespread alfalfa winterinjury. In an early March 2024 article on alfalfa winter survival , I indicated that alfalfa should have been in good shape up to that time because of the long fall dormancy period, the dry soils, above average air temperatures and soil temperatures in the 20-30F range. Temperatures of 5F are required to kill alfalfa root and crown tissues. Figure 2. An alfalfa crown showing initial spring regrowth from crown buds. During early March, 2-4 inch soil temperatures did reach 40 F at several locations and alfalfa broke dormancy and crown buds elongated (Figure 1 and 2). Following this, we had some huge swings in air temperatures from record highs to single digit lows and lack of snow cover. There was concern about injury to the elongated crown buds because previous r

Anthony Hanson (hans4022@umn.edu), Extension IPM Regional Educator, and Bruce Potter, Extension IPM Specialist Mid-May to June is typically the time to begin scouting for insect problems in alfalfa. After our warm spring of 2024, alfalfa weevil adults, 1st stage larvae, and even a few 2nd stage larvae are beginning to be found in the southern half of the state (Fig. 1). Even if larvae are present in your fields, insecticide applications may not be needed if larval populations are not yield limiting or when alfalfa fields can be harvested soon. Cutting exposes the larvae to weather and can greatly reduce numbers. Figure 1. Alfalfa weevil larvae collected May 15, 2024 at the Southwest Research and Outreach Center by Lamberton, MN. Photo: Bruce Potter Farmers have been seeing a two-pronged challenge to managing alfalfa weevil in recent years: 1. An extended larval feeding season. 2. Reports of pyrethroids failures for alfalfa weevil. Each of these problems on their own have some solution

Taylor Herbert, UMN Extension educator-crops, Wright, McLeod, and Meeker Counties. therbert@umn.edu or (612)-394-5229 Alfalfa scissors cut sample The Alfalfa Harvest Alert Project/ Scissor Cut project is now underway! The first samples were taken at the end of last week. 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. Keep in mind, the goal of this project 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 14   Alfalfa Harvest Alert data is available as a pdf. However, there's also a tool that contains this year’s data and all of the data from every county and farm that has participated in the Alfalfa Harvest Alert Program since 1977. Go to  z.umn.e

Tana Haugen-Brown, Extension educator and Co-coordinator - Pesticide Safety and Environmental Education, Lizabeth Stahl and Angie Peltier, Extension educators – crops, and Larry VanLieshout, Minnesota Department of Agriculture Photo: Larry VanLieshout, Minnesota Department of Agriculture As producers and applicators work in the fields this spring and summer, it’s important to remember that a number of pesticides require a setback between the application area and water resources. This is in order to protect water quality and it is important to remember that setbacks listed on the label are a legal requirement too. These setbacks may be for mixing/loading, application, or both. Be sure to check each pesticide label for more details. Herbicides of particular concern in Minnesota due to detections in surface water include atrazine and acetochlor (e.g. the active ingredient in Harness, Surpass, and Warrant). Herbicides that have been detected in groundwater include atrazine, acetochlor,

Understanding how nitrogen behaves in the environment is more important than ever. Having access to unbiased, research-based information is crucial for growers as they try to make the most efficient input decisions for their farms, maximizing profits while at the same time minimizing nitrogen loss to the environment. For the last decade, the Nitrogen Smart curriculum at University of Minnesota Extension has been examining and unpacking the latest in nitrogen research. This program is now being presented in short, topic-specific podcasts and easy-to-watch videos. The new program, Advancing Nitrogen Smart, will feature timely topics for Minnesota farmers and agricultural professionals. The defining principle of Nitrogen Smart has always been that participants are not told what to do; instead, they are given the information necessary to make their own best decisions. In this short episode, U of M Extension educator Brad Carlson introduces the Advancing Nitrogen Smart series and some of th

Liz Stahl, Extension educator - crops Photo: Jared Goplen After a good start, wet conditions have stalled planting across much of the state. Dr Debalin Sarangi, Extension weed scientist, and Bruce Potter, Integrated Pest Management specialist at the Southwest Research and Outreach Center by Lamberton discussed weed and insect management challenges faced by growers this year due to an extended planting season during the May 8 Strategic Farming: Field Notes session. They were joined by moderator Dr. Anthony Hanson, Extension educator – Integrated Pest Management. Weed management updates Preemergence herbicides were activated - now what? Preemergence (PRE) herbicides are the foundation of a strong weed management program, regardless of the postemergence (POST) program used. Their use is strongly encouraged in part due to the prevalence of weeds resistant to one or more of our commonly used POST herbicides. The residual activity they provide is also key in controlling weeds like wate

Larry VanLieshout, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, and Tana Haugen-Brown, Extension educator and PPAT co-coordinator Sample Minnesota FieldWatch map. To prevent pesticide drift injury, scout the surrounding area prior to application to determine if sensitive crops or beehives are nearby. Then take precautions to avoid spray drift to these areas. In addition, use the FieldCheck program to check the FieldWatch Map to see it there are sensitive sites in the area. These producer-submitted (crop growers and beekeepers) sites are marked by a pin on the map. Selecting a pin brings up contact information for that producer and additional information such as crop type and whether it is conventional vs. organic. Corn and soybean growers can also indicate the herbicide tolerance of their crop. Dicamba and 2,4-D product labels for application to herbicide tolerant soybeans state to check your state’s sensitive crop registry, FieldWatch map, prior to application to identify sensitive and orga

Craig Sheaffer, Nancy Ehlke, Jake Jungers, University of Minnesota, St. Paul Kura clover in full flower the year after seeding. Beginning in the early 1990’s, the University of Minnesota had a significant program to study kura clover ( Trifolium ambiguum L.) and its use in Midwest grazing systems. Kura clover appears to be an ideal pasture legume. It has yield similar to red clover but greater persistence under weather extremes than any legume. Its forage is leafy and has a high nutritive value. In addition, if allowed to flower, it’s sweet smell earned it the name of honey clover. Alas, after decades of agronomic and plant breeding research, its adoption by producers has been disappointing. Seed availability, seed cost, and poor establishment have been identified as limiting factors. The renewed interest caused by kura’s use as a living mulch for corn production has faded because of challenges with managing kura competition and its effect on grain yield. Following is an hist