Cropping Issues in Northwest Minnesota

 This article was written by UMN Extension educator Angie Peltier. Spend time in parts of NW MN and you will encounter field areas unable to support crop production. Agronomists visiting northwest Minnesota (and eastern North Dakota for that matter) may be amazed to see just how quickly crop producers are able to complete their spring field work to take advantage of as much of the short growing season as possible.  As seedlings begin to emerge, the producers and these visiting agronomists alike might also notice that there are field areas from which no crop seedlings emerge. Some of these bare areas may never have either crop or weed seedlings emerge throughout the growing season and may increase in size over time.    Of additional concern: many continue to farm these unproductive acres, working the soil, planting seed, spreading fertilizer and other inputs as if expecting a crop were to be produced.  So not only is this land not producing a marketable crop, costs associated with input

This article was written by UMN Extension educator Angie Peltier, UMN Extension IPM specialist Bruce Potter, UMN researcher and assistant IPM coordinator Eric Burkness and UMN Extension entomologist Bill Hutchison. Former UMN Extension educator Phillip Glogoza contributed to this survey in 2017 and 2018 and this work could also not have been carried out without the assistance of cooperating NW MN farmers and crop advisors. Purpose of the study European corn borer (ECB) larvae tunnel into stalks and ear shanks (Figure 1). Feeding affects the transfer of water and nutrients within the plant and can directly affect yield by reducing kernel weight and number.  ECB feeding can indirectly affect yield when tunnels cause stalk breakage, ear drop, or allow the entry of stalk rot and ear mold fungi.  Figure 1. European corn borer ( Ostrinia nubilalis ). Clemson University, USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series, Bugwood.org. ECB and Bt corn More than 25 years ago scientists found a way to tran