The Ag PhD Crop Scouting Reports are supplied by contributors to Hefty Seed Co., based in Baltic, South Dakota. Find more online at www.agphd.com and www.heftyseed.com.
ARKANSAS
Augusta, AR
More rice is getting planted today, some is going to the flood and some is just coming out from under a flood! Be sure to get some Command out on the new rice fields. Poly pipe is out on most of the early corn. We will have to start irritation soon without a rain. We are making some progress now! — Joey York
Most corn is approaching V7-V8. At least 1 sidedress Nitrogen application has been made with the second one soon to follow. Remember to tissue test for other deficiencies. Some post-emerge herbicides have been made on soybeans. The residuals added to these are working well with ample moisture for activation. — Perry Galloway
ILLINOIS
Georgetown, IL
Due to the inconvenient rains we have experienced, some farmers were unable to get their pre-emerge herbicides on some bean acres. If you are one of these farmers, we strongly encourage you to put in a strong residual product such as Outlook or Warrant with your post-emergence herbicide application. You will also need to adjust the timing of your post application to clean up the weeds before they get too tall. — Tyler Smith
Princeton, IL
Pre-emerge herbicides like Resicore, TripleFLEX, and Sure Start are labeled for application from pre-emerge through 11-inch-tall corn. These are excellent choices if you have corn planted with no chemicals applied and can be tank mixed with glyphosate, atrazine, or dicamba. Be sure to check labels before tank mixing products. — Mike Denton
A customer experienced 50 to 60 mph winds in 2 to 4 leaf corn. The corn was “sandblasted” and some cut off. We dug plants together and identified that the growing point was below the soil and his corn will grow out of it. — John Becker
IOWA
Rockwell, IA
Many types of broadleaves and thistles are coming up in the pastures. Now is a great time to attack these weeds with GrazonNext. This product can be applied while leaving your cattle in the pasture. — Tim Nuehring
Sheldon, IA
Corn stands are looking very good, but be sure you are getting out and doing actual counts. 17.5 feet of row will give you 1/1000th of an acre for 30-inch rows. — Adam Sauer
With some soybean acres not planted yet, weeds have not had any competition for sunlight or nutrients. On these acres, a burndown and pre are going to be essential to make sure that your seed has the best opportunity to grow in your field. Even though most burndowns have a plant back restriction and are going to have to wait to plant a little bit longer, burning down a 4-inch weed is going to be easier that coming back post fighting a plant that is 7 inches or bigger, and not getting a clean kill. One other option is to switch to the new Xtend beans for the ability to use Xtendimax or Engenia down with zero little to no plant back restrictions. — Nathan Kloft
MINNESOTA
Breckenridge, MN
A lot of wheat in our area is ready to be sprayed. A lot of growers are using a generic Tilt at 2 oz/acre to protect their wheat from early diseases. — Tia Johnson
Fairmont, MN
A lot of giant ragweed is beginning to emerge. Stinger or dicamba is a good choice in corn if you just need to spot-spray a few areas to get you by until your planned post herbicide plan. — Evan Oberdieck
Hancock, MN
Dicamba-tolerant soybeans will be a nice option this year for weed control, but one issue I can see arising from them is that growers may rely too much on dicamba. We have lots of chemical options in corn, so try to mix up chemistries a little in your corn rather than using dicamba on both crops. Roundup was overused for years and that’s what led to weed resistance so fast. We need to do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen with dicamba. — Aaron Giese
Janesville, MN
With temperatures below 50 degrees at night, avoid spraying your chemicals because the low temperatures affect how well most herbicides work. — Ray Johnson
LeRoy, MN
As cover crop usage and reduce tillage is becoming more mainstream in our area, one bug that you may want to keep an eye out for is white grub. Yes, we have seed treatment on our corn and some even use an insecticide with their planter, but these will have little to no effect on white grubs. — Grant Lunning
Marshall, MN
There are a number of soybean fields in the area that did not get the pre-emergent herbicide laid down before the rain. Watch these fields closely, as soon as you start seeing weeds emerge, be proactive, and control them small. Also add in a residual product like Warrant or Dual with this application to try to stay ahead of the weeds. — John Wiese
Olivia, MN
Many growers are using the wet weather to pick up post applied products. Do not forget to get the adjuvant for the product also. It is also a good idea to have some spray tank cleaner, defoamer, and drift retardant on hand. — John Scheibel
I was in a corn field the other day checking emergence and the stand looks good. However, I did see a few lambsquarters and other weeds starting to pop through. Make sure you are scouting your fields and monitoring weed pressure, especially if you did not get a pre down. You’re going to want to make a post application before your weeds get over 4 inches tall to ensure control and prevent resistance. — Tony Hagen
Soybeans are beginning to emerge around the area. A seed treatment will help your soybeans in cold and wet conditions. — Aaron Spronk
Thief River Falls, MN
I’m seeing a few spring wheat fields with patchy spots of thick wild oats growing well ahead of the wheat. In that case, an early application of a wild oat killer like Everest 2.0 or Axial XL should be applied at 2 leaf wheat to kill the wild oats before it chokes out the wheat or reduces the stand. — Jordan Swanson
Winthrop, MN
If you are planning on using either Xtendimax or Engenia as a post option in your Xtend beans, go to www.xtendimaxtankrequirements.com or engeniatankmix.com to see which products you are able to tankmix and which adjuvants you should use. — Tyler Gasow
With the cool, wet weather, you can reduce the stress on your corn acres by adding MegaGro at 2 oz/acre with your first herbicide spraying. MegaGro is a patented safener for Roundup. This will get the Roundup through the crop faster, reduce stress, and increase growth. — Dean Christiansen
I have gotten a few questions recently about some replants into spots that already have their pre’s down. With most soybean pre’s such as Valor, Sharpen, or the Authority products down, you can certainly plant back into those spots if need be. — Matt Vogel
MISSOURI
Bertrand, MO
The colors of summer are upon us. The changing color of wheat fields tell us that harvest is only a couple weeks away in the area. I am not hearing much talk about yield potential just yet. Some wheat around here was hit with a late freeze that will have an effect on yield. To what extent remains to be seen. — Albert Duenne
A major portion of soybean planting will be taking place this week. Several acres are still affected by flood waters along the Mississippi river in our area. River stages are falling and planting will follow in those areas shortly after. — Albert Duenne
Hayti, MO
Wheat will soon be ready to harvest in Southeast Missouri. Farmers need to know what burndown and pre-emergent they need and have them and soybean seed on hand and ready to plant. — Danny Stevens
MONTANA
Sidney, MT
Monday – Tank cleaning between certain herbicides should always be done when changing spray type applications since some could last a fair amount of time in the sprayer. Always clean and rinse out your tanks. Be sure to have some tank cleaner on hand or simply purchase some whenever you purchase crop protection products. The tank cleaning instructions are on chemical labels. — Chester Hill
With our drier conditions, I have received a few questions about herbicide tie-up. From my experience, dust tie-up does not affect pre-emergent herbicides. LV6 or dicamba also don’t seem to lose much efficacy. Certain products like glyphosate tend to lose some ability in dusty conditions, especially in wheel track areas. In dry conditions, the plant is under stress and creates a waxy buildup to protect itself. Glyphosate rates should be increased by at least 25% to help with tie-up and help penetrate the wax on the leaf. — Chester Hill
NEBRASKA
Laurel, NE
We are not far from sidedress season. It’s always a good idea to pull a nitrate soil sample pre-sidedress to make sure you are applying the right rate of nitrogen. — Rusty Reifenrath
NORTH DAKOTA
Hurdsfield, ND
As Engenia starts to head out the door, remember you cannot use AMS in your tankmix. Use a labeled product like Lockamba as your water conditioner and drift retardant. — Emily Kline
Lisbon, ND
There have been some fields that waterhemp is coming up in already. You may have to add something to your tankmix to get control of this with your pre. — Adam Ladwig
Mohall, ND
Use for Monday – If you’ve got volunteer spring wheat or winter wheat from a previous crop that has overwintered and you are planting wheat adjacent to it, use Gramoxone to give you a quicker 7-day green bridge to prevent wheat streak mosaic. — Ron Hefta
SOUTH DAKOTA
Aberdeen, SD
Now is the time to start tissue sampling your corn. Sample your corn in the same spot at the same time every week for the next 8-12 weeks. Finding what areas you are deficient in and correcting those issues will lead to better plant health, higher yields, and more profit in your pockets. — Kalen Kjellsen
Baltic, SD
If you still have corn to be planted, I would suggest looking at switching to an earlier variety after May 20th. If you typically plant 94-102 day corn, I would be looking for a 98-day or earlier hybrid to plant. — Wes Jepsen
Winter Wheat is in the flag leaf stage and it’s time to apply fungicide to protect it. Flag is the last time to safely treat stobilurin MOA fungicides like Headline. — Rob Fritz
Freeman, SD
If you’re looking to start tissue sampling corn, 2 leaf corn is a good time to start. Do it every week in the same spot and monitor your nutrient uptake. — Matt Zilverberg
Huron, SD
A grower asked about planting sunflowers on corn stalks that had been applied with TripleFLEX the previous spring. The grower stated that his neighbor had done and his flowers came through it fine. However, the label states that you must wait 18 months to safely plant sunflowers. My opinion would be that it is possible that the sunflowers managed to “grow through it,” but there was likely some yield drag. A 300-400 pound loss could easily happen, and because the planting was off label, there is no recourse. My recommendation before planting sunflowers is to check rotational restrictions on the chemicals sprayed in the last 12 to 24 months. — Garritt Dykstra
Remember to scout your alfalfa fields for insects such as alfalfa weevils. Generic Warrior products like Kendo, Silencer are popular, but there are other good products that would work well for control also. — Norland Hofer
Make sure to scout soybean fields before spraying the pre on them. If the soybeans are sprouting already, there are still some options for a pre-emerge herbicide. Outlook and Warrant are two great products with good residual. — Kyle Wiese
Kimball, SD
Most corn in the area is up. If you plan on putting a residual herbicide on now, make sure you can kill the weeds that are already up. You may need to add a dicamba product. Be careful when using an unsafened dicamba when the corn is over 5-6 inches tall. Even though Banvel is labeled on taller corn, you can have stalk issues later in the season. — Mike Erickson
Watertown, SD
If the weather is too cold, it can severely impact the effectiveness of your Roundup. If the temperature falls below 50 degrees two days before or after application, increase your rate by 50%. If the temperature reaches 32 degrees, do not spray for a couple of days. — Russ Werning
Wheat in our area is doing well right now. To maintain good growth and healthy plants, use a fungicide such as Stratego. Stratego protects the plant from diseases like rust, tan spot, and leaf blight. The half rate of Stratego is 5 oz per acre. — Beau Wensing
With post spraying on Xtend Soybeans coming soon, keep in mind that if you are spraying Xtendimax alone, you have to add 2 qts/100 gal of Lockamba, and never use AMS! — Jack Beutler
WASHINGTON
Quincy, WA
With the warm weather, weeds are coming on fast in spring wheat. Huskie is a popular weed control option on tough weeds like Russian thistle, prickly lettuce, marestail, and tar weed because it is still gentle on the wheat. Growers like it as it is a good option for rotating herbicide chemistry on wheat/fallow rotations. Be sure to use spray grade AMS for the best results. — Devin Moon
