Skip to main content

Posts

Snowed in? Check out these weed management presentations

The freezing rain, sleet and considerable snow that fell over the last day and a half are sure to delay field work a bit longer throughout much of northwest Minnesota.

If you have all of your equipment as well-tuned as it can get while waiting for fields to dry and aren't suffering from meeting fatigue, there are a series of weed management webinars available on the Take Action website that might help to provide an edge during the 2020 growing season and beyond.
Read more
Recent posts

Soybean fungicide seed treatment efficacy

Planting intentions and variety selections for 2020 were likely made several months ago in 2019. Perhaps the decision about whether or not to get your seed selections treated with a seed treatment have not.  Unlike in the dent corn world, where it is a difficult task to find untreated seed to purchase, there are more seed treatment options to consider for soybean.

Making a fungicide seed treatment decision depends upon from which pathogen(s) you are trying to protect your soybean seeds and seedlings. Some soybean seed treatment fungicide active ingredients have efficacy against true fungi like Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium species and Phomopsis species while others have activity against water molds like the Pythium species and Phytophthora sojae. To complicate matters a bit more, not all seed treatment fungicides that have efficacy against Fusarium species, are effective against Fusarium virguliforme, the pathogen that causes sudden death syndrome.

To aid folks making fungicide seed t…
Read more

When it's time to roll!

This article was written and posted to the Iowa State University Integrated Crop Management webpage by ISU Extension field agronomist Aaron Saeugling.

Planting season will soon be upon us, despite the current pandemic. This ICM Blog will discuss a few key things to focus on regarding planter set-up as we approach the 2020 planting season. For a video version of this article, see Planter Maintenance and Set-up.

Proper planter set-up is critical for optimizing plant spacing no matter the color, age, or size of your planter. While newer equipment may allow us to plant in less than ideal conditions, I sometimes see those fields later in the year with interesting results—some good and some not. If you have not made adjustments to your planter set-up in the past few years, things to keep in mind include the following:
Read more

Upcoming webinars focus on effect of Covid-19 on agriculture

Provided that they are not combing remaining corn from the 2019 growing season, most farmers in the Red River Valley are making preparations for the 2020 growing season as they wait for temperatures to warm, snow to melt and soils to dry.

While relatively few Americans have yet been sickened with the coronavirus that causes the respiratory disease called Covid-19, all have had to make adjustments to their daily activities in an effort to slow the spread.  Below are a list of upcoming Covid-19-related webinars geared specifically toward crop producers and other agricultural professionals. Note that all times are listed in central time.
Read more

Are you a Minnesota or North Dakota farmer with poorly producing land and an interest in cover crops?

The USDA's Farm Service Agency is debuting a Soil Health and Income Protection Program (SHIPP) Pilot program in 2020, a program geared towards producers in the prairie pothole states of Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. This program will provide partial rental payments on for up to 50,000 acres.

Interested producers can check out this FSA Fact Sheet and ask questions or apply for this program at their local USDA Service Center.
Read more