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.
ILLINOIS
Georgetown, IL
A lot of alfalfa has been cut for the first time. Now is a good time to apply some fertilizer to get the crop going again to get a quick and bountiful second cutting. Keep an eye out for aphids and leaf hoppers. Shorter intervals between cuttings can cut down on some insect damage. — Tyler Smith
Princeton, IL
When spraying a glyphosate product on any crop, we are seeing more farmers each year adding MegaGro. At a 2 oz/acre rate, it will run you just over $4 an acre and you will get a 2-way PGR and a glyphosate safener. Growers who are using MegaGro say they have seen a good response when applied to soybeans. — Nate Ihnen
IOWA
Rockwell, IA
If you have had severe weather in your area, consider fungicide application of either Priaxor at 4 oz/acre or Fortix at 5 oz/acre. These fungicides have proven themselves in ROI in both good times and tough times. In corn, make sure to confirm the crop stage first. Do not add adjuvants on corn when it’s at V7 up until the VT stage. On soybeans, adding adjuvants is recommended throughout the entire growing season. — Paul Helland
Sheldon, IA
Volunteer corn in the area is thick this year and getting some size to it. Products like Select Max, Se-Cure, and Fusilade are good products, but don’t skimp on the rates. The large clumps out there will be hard to get good coverage. I would recommend bumping the rates to ensure a good kill. — Adam Sauer
KANSAS
Garden City, KS
With all of the cultivation going on this year, herbicide application after cultivation is going to be a bit trickier. Here are a few of the later-season herbicides: HPPDs can go out until V8, also many of them can be flown by plane if need be. Status can go out to V10 (36”), Aim can be used with drop nozzles until V14. Keep in mind the risk from crop injury, both from chemical and machinery damage. It’s not always worth it. — Chris Lobmeyer
MINNESOTA
Breckenridge, MN
Products such as Huskie and Bronate are great for controlling most broadleaf weeds in your wheat fields, but if you’re going after kochia or Canada thistle, consider switching to WideMatch at 1 pt/acre if you want to see good control. — Conor Swenson
Fairmont, MN
Corn is showing signs of nitrogen deficiency in some fields, and side-dressing a few more gallons would help a lot. A stabilizer would also pay its way with super humid and hot weather showing back up in a few days. Another valuable tool would be to use some products like Kalibrate or Sure-K along with micronutrients. It is very important to work on increasing K levels as well as sulfur. — Steve Draper
Hancock, MN
Some soybean fields are yellowing and showing signs of Iron Deficiency Chlorosis. Most growers automatically assume that IDC is the cause of yellow beans, but there may be other problems occurring in the soil. Two other potential factors include high salt content in the soil due to poor drainage, as well as a potential Soybean Cyst Nematode issue. The best way to diagnose this problem is to get a soil test done, as well as pulling weekly tissue tests in fields showing symptoms, to see if you can find the underlying cause. Also take a look at the leaves on your soybean plants. The location of the yellowing on the leaves can sometimes quickly tell you what the issue is. — Aaron Giese
LeRoy, MN
In Minnesota we still have 7 days to spray dicamba on our Xtend soybeans. If you know you can’t get them all sprayed, rank them in order of weediest to cleanest and start there. The alternate options are not nearly as good as dicamba. — Grant Lunning
Olivia, MN
Many growers will be adding a residual herbicide with their dicamba application in soybeans. The hope is that this will get them to canopy without having to come back a second time. Outlook paired with Engenia or Warrant paired with Xtendimax are both good options. — Tony Hagen
There is still time to get a great soybean planted into any drowned-out spots that you may have with the recent heavy rains in the area. Be in contact with your seed supplier so that the maturity you prefer is on hand when these spots dry out. — John Scheibel
Thief River Falls, MN
For the late planted corn, there is still time to get a residual product on like SureStart or TripleFlex. You have until the corn is 11 inches tall to apply those products. Also, you can add another mode of action with atrazine at 1/3 to 1/2 pound per acre for great knock down power against weeds that are already up. — Jordan Swanson
Winthrop, MN
If you are having problems with lambsquarters in your soybean acres, you can add in Volta or Treaty (generic Harmony) at 1/12 oz per acre to your tankmix for good post-emerge control. — Dean Christiansen
MISSOURI
Bertrand, MO
Growers in the area are getting the pre-emerge applications made to their wheat field soybeans. A popular mix has been Parazone 3SL at 2 pts/acre (to burn down Roundup resistant weeds), Me-too-lachlor II at 1.5 pts/acre and Authority MTZ at 8 – 12 oz/acre, depending on soil type. — Albert Duenne
Hayti, MO
In case you have not seen it yet, there’s an interesting way to see growth in your corn that has been circulating online. Use spray paint to coat the stalk and leaves of a corn plant, and it will give you an idea of just how fast your corn is growing. It also provides a good example of how non-systemic applications, like many fungicides, will only offer protection on foliage emerged at time of application. Give it a try in an easy-to-see spot, and track its progress for a few days! — Ryan Wilson
MONTANA
Great Falls, MT
Cutworm in pulse crops can be an issue from late May through June. While scouting your fields, keep an eye on hilltops and areas of light soil. Larvae actively feed at night and bury under residue during the day, so some digging in the top two inches is required. Mustang applied at 4.3 oz/acre late in the evening or at night is a very effective treatment. — Ryan Casillas
Alfalfa fields in the area are on the cusp of first cutting. It is also that time of year to begin scouting for alfalfa weevil larvae. We are a couple weeks into the typical scouting time in Montana for alfalfa weevil larvae (May 24th-June 16th). Early cutting is one option, but insecticide application with something like Mustang Maxx at 4 ounces per acre is the best answer to eliminate alfalfa weevil larvae. It has a 3 day pre-harvest interval. Just be cautious to apply in the morning or evening when bees are not as active. — Stetson Senyak
Sidney, MT
Weed pressure is hitting producers hard. One tankmix that’s working well this year for both grass and broadleaf weeds is Axial Star and Brox M. This is a pretty good overall application for controlling your wild oats and pigeon grass along with kochia and Russian thistle. — Chet Hill
NEBRASKA
Seward, NE
With frequent and heavy rains this spring, our mobile soil nutrients are getting deep into the soil. Be sure to pull a 12-inch sample and a 24-inch sample to see if the crop is trying to catch up with nitrogen and other mobile nutrients. If deep samples show higher than average nitrate, nitrogen is starting to leach down, reducing yield. Sidedress may need to be applied in leached areas to supply the crop with adequate nitrogen. — Brad Meusch
West Point, NE
The first alfalfa cutting is going on in the area. Be sure to keep an eye out for alfalfa weevil larvae and other bugs that could be in your fields. If a treatment is warranted, Mustang Maxx at 3.2 oz per acre is an excellent product for control. Apply this product after about 4 inches of regrowth. You can also apply a foliar nutritional product at the same time for a boost to the plants. — Mike Wiese
NORTH DAKOTA
Hurdsfield, ND
I’m seeing an exceptional amount of volunteer corn in soybeans fields this year. It’s mainly due to the drought we had last year. A lot of cobs had fallen off prior to harvest, and the cobs in general were smaller last year, therefore shelling at the header and bouncing out of the snouts. 4-6 oz of Fusilade in your PowerMax post tankmix will help this out greatly. It will control volunteer corn much better than any clethodim product. Make sure you add a NIS at 1-2 qts/100 or preferably COC 0.5-1 gallon per 100 plus 2 lbs of AMS/acre. — Brandon Wall
Mohall, ND
For soybean fields with kochia, your choices for control are Flexstar or Engenia or Xtendimax on dicamba tolerant beans only. The last day to spray dicamba products is sneaking up on us. There have been several great discussions on what to do on dicamba beans past the date, but the option is to get it completed early and avoid mistakes. — Ron Hefta
SOUTH DAKOTA
Baltic, SD
There is a lot of volunteer corn up in the area. Remember, weed for weed, volunteer corn is the biggest yield-robbing weed. If you are shooting for high yielding soybeans, let’s make sure that volunteer corn is not in your field. — Tyler Koenig
Centerville, SD
With corn spraying going on right now, be sure to check your label on height restrictions for your post corn products. Products like Callisto have a 24-inch restriction on them and products such as Status have a 36” restriction on them. As corn gets bigger, drop nozzles will be required to keep the product out of the whorl of big corn. — Travis Petty
Freeman, SD
I am seeing a lot of volunteer corn in soybean fields. Se-Cure at 5 to 7 oz along with crop oil at 1 gal/100 gal of water and AMS at 2 to 4 lbs/acre will do a good job on it. Some fields may require 2 applications with late emerging volunteer corn. — Lee Dockendorf
Gettysburg, SD
Make sure when you are spraying your Liberty Link crops that you have at least 15 gal/acre of water, flat fan nozzles, 3 lbs of dry AMS, and making applications under 12 mph. Liberty will work the best when it is applied in full sun, high humidity, and you have a temperature of at least 70 degrees or more. If you have any grass pressure, add Clethodim but don’t add any oil. Liberty has oil in it so if you add additional oil, you could injure your crop. — Eric Butz
Huron, SD
I was recently asked how to kill yellow foxtail post-emerge in Liberty soybeans. Select or a generic at no less than 6 oz/acre would provide adequate control. No oil is needed for the clethodim when tankmixing with Liberty. — Kyle Wiese
Watertown, SD
Corn is growing fast. If you are planning on adding some atrazine to your post product such as Laudis or generic Callisto, make sure to have this done by 12-inch tall corn. — Jack Beutler
WASHINGTON
Quincy, WA
Some newly planted sweet corn fields are showing signs of wireworm damage. Using Lorsban at 4.5 pts/acre through the irrigation system with at least 0.5 inch of water to get the product to the seed/root zone will help control these pests. — Danny Hopkins
