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
I have never seen as much sprangletop grass as what I’ve seen in some rice fields lately. We are going to try and burn it with some RiceBeaux and Beyond in our pre-flood herbicide application in the Clearfield rice. It wouldn’t surprise me if we aren’t making another application in the flood later on but maybe we will kill it. — Joey York
The big talk in Arkansas is the potential ban of any and all dicamba containing products. Engenia is the only dicamba product approved for use in Xtend crops in Arkansas. Due to numerous complaints to Arkansas Plant Board, the pesticide committee voted Friday to recommend stopping the sale and use of dicamba. This will go to the whole board Tuesday with their recommendation going to the governor’s office. We cannot afford to lose this technology. — Perry Galloway
ILLINOIS
Georgetown, IL
Keep an eye out for first generation European corn borer in early planted conventional corn. They will target the healthiest, darkest green parts of the field. Look on the bottoms of leaves for eggs or down in the whorl for worms. — Tyler Smith
Princeton, IL
Many growers are beginning post application of soybeans this week. Many are including a glyphosate product like PowerMax in their tank mix. I always encourage adding 2 ounces of MegaGro as it is a patented glyphosate safener and contains two plant growth regulators known to improve root and plant growth. Be safe! — Mike Denton
Marestail is starting to show up in our area in emerged soybeans, especially in the end rows. This weed can be easier to control in the new Xtend soybeans. At this point we only have one chance to control marestail, with the next option being iron (tillage). We would recommend FirstRate and XtendiMAX, since both products are approved to be tankmixed together. Consider adding PowerMax to the tank since not all marestail is resistant to PowerMax in the state of Illinois. PowerMax will also bring some synergism and more activity to fighting the marestail. Please visit http://xtendimaxapplicationrequirements.com to make sure you are following all tank mixing requirements when using XtendiMAX. — Matt Denton
IOWA
Sheldon, IA
When mixing your soybean post chemicals, make sure you are following the proper mixing order and have the correct adjuvant load. Certain products could become sludge in the tank if they are mixed too quickly, don’t get agitated in the tank before continuing, or are added in the wrong order. — Nathan Kloft
MINNESOTA
Fairmont, MN
A lot of bean spraying will be done here in the next two weeks. Be sure to go over your planting maps to remember what traits are in each field so you know exactly what to spray on them. — Evan Oberdieck
Hancock, MN
If you have Liberty beans this year, it may be a good idea to spike in a product like Warrant, Outlook, or Dual with your Liberty to give yourself some extra residual. Liberty is a contact herbicide, and although it has worked very well the last couple years, it’s important to use multiple chemistries to avoid weed resistance. — Aaron Giese
Janesville, MN
Farmers always have questions when it comes to fertilizing corn. Corn needs little nitrogen during early stages VE-V5. The largest portion of the total nitrogen taken up by corn occurs during the eighth leaf to VT (tasseling) stages. Nitrogen uptake is about 80% done shortly after pollination, so applying N before the V8 development stage is best and could be easier, depending on your choice of application. — Josh Bruns
LeRoy, MN
When using XtendiMAX or Engenia and a volunteer corn killer (at this point only some clethodim products are labeled) we would recommend only using an NIS right now. Many of the generics require COC in the tank, but this mix with the dicamba could potentially heat it up so much we could see some crop damage. —
Grant Lunning
Marshall, MN
Be scouting your soybean fields every day for weeds that are coming up. The pre-emerge chemicals are starting to wear off and broadleaves are growing fast. Adding a residual product on your first pass will increase your chances of slowing down or stopping these unwanted weeds from germinating. — Jeremy Jensen
Olivia, MN
Remember that atrazine, Harness, Surpass and any products containing those active ingredients can only be applied to corn 12 inches tall and smaller. — John Scheibel
The application window for Resicore and TripleFlex II/SureStart II is ending soon or has ended, depending on the area you are in. It is time to switch to Laudis, Status, and very shortly drop nozzles. — Aaron Spronk
Thief River Falls, MN
Corn is growing rapidly with good moisture and heat as of recently. It’s a great time for tissue sampling and with most of the corn in the V2-V4 leaf stage, you want to take the whole plant right at ground level to get the best sample. — Jordan Swanson
If you are spraying your pastures with 2,4-D or Curtail, keep your animals out of that pasture for 7 days after application. — Rachel Klein
Winthrop, MN
If you have a thistle problem in your conventional soybean acres, you can use Basagran or a generic at 1 qt/acre plus crop oil or MSO to clean up these problem areas. — Dean Christiansen
When you are spraying a herbicide, be sure that you’re using the correct adjuvant. Certain products require certain surfactants. — Tyler Gasow
If you have Liberty Link soybeans and are heading out to spray Liberty on them, make sure you are using enough water to maximize its potential. Since Liberty is a contact killer, it is recommended to use 15-20 gallons/acre of water to get the best possible coverage that you can get. — Matt Vogel
MISSOURI
Bertrand, MO
Beware of sensitive crops downwind when applying herbicides like Engenia or XtendiMAX. There are a few cases where off-target movement is occurring. Flagging your fields with the proper flags may save relationships with your neighbors. — Albert Duenne
By the end of this week I would say that 90% of the wheat field soybeans will be planted in our area. We have experienced less replants at this point than at this time last year so far. — Albert Duenne
MONTANA
Sidney, MT
Some farmers are wondering if it’s okay to spray Liberty on canola at the bolting stage. It is fine to apply on the early end of stem elongation and bolting, but as the canola gets bigger you run the risk of aborting some of the flowers as they start to show up in larger numbers. However, with the drought conditions and uneven emergence, one may consider the weed management as critical to save as much yield as possible, so maybe spraying later into the bolting stage is a good choice. — Chet Hill
NEBRASKA
Laurel, NE
Now is the right time to put some fungicide on your corn for some added early season plant health and to help deal with stress. — Rusty Reifenrath
West Point, NE
Monday – This year, some growers are saying that their soybean fields are spotless and don’t want to spray them yet. This is a great problem! Now let’s not mess it up, now is the time to be getting these bean herbicides on. My favorite time to spray beans is when there are no weeds. Consider using a Warrant, Anthem, or Outlook on these fields. By doing this, you will hopefully not have a waterhemp problem all year. — Jacob Gubbels
NORTH DAKOTA
Hillsboro, ND
If you have Xtend beans, we are or will be approaching R1 (first flower). This means that by label, your XtendiMAX or Engenia cannot be sprayed past R1. Any spray of XtendiMAX or Engenia after this will be off label. Summer solstice is tomorrow night at 11:24, so beans are going to be putting flowers on in the next week or so. — Ryan Pierce
Hurdsfield, ND
Many growers are talking about an early small grain harvest. Consider planting a cover crop back on those acres. They make great feed if you have cattle and will help battle wind erosion. — Emily Kline
Lisbon, ND
If you have kochia in your corn fields, WideMatch is an excellent choice to clean it up. Just remember this needs to be sprayed before the V6 growth stage. — Spencer Schultz
SOUTH DAKOTA
Aberdeen, SD
Growers who are spraying Engenia at 12.8 oz/acre on their Xtend soybeans have been very happy with the results. Optimal growing conditions right now are allowing the product to work very quickly. Outlook at 14 oz/acre has been making a great tankmix partner for increased residual. — Tanner Johnson
Baltic, SD
Weeds are starting to break in soybean fields. Now is the time to get your Flexstar applied due to carryover concerns. It would also help to throw in a residual product like Dual, Warrant, Zidua, or Outlook. — Tyler Koenig
We had some bad weather move through this last week and a few fields got hit with some hail. When looking at hailed soybeans, as long as the stem is not broken off below the cotyledons, which are your last two growing points on the plant, they will re-grow. Also, applying a fungicide will help those damaged plants recover and protect them from disease entering the open wounds from the hail. — Lee Fischer
Centerville, SD
I’ve walked some Roundup Ready soybean fields the last few days and have noticed quite a few lambsquarters coming up. Some pre’s may pull small plants back down with activation from moisture. If that doesn’t happen, spiking in 1/12 oz/acre of Harmony or equivalent generic with your post application will take on this tough weed. Spray now; they’re harder to control once they get over that 4 to 6-inch threshold. One lambsquarters plant per foot of a row can reduce soybean yield by as much as 25 percent! — Peter Strom
Freeman, SD
With recent hail events last week, now would be a good time to put on a fungicide to help heal and prevent further stress on the plant. A strobilurin like Equation or Acadia would be a good choice. — Matt Zilverberg
Gettysburg, SD
If you have Express sunflowers in the two leaf stage, you are ready to start spraying Express at 0.5 oz/acre plus MSO at 16 oz/acre. Spray while the weeds are small. — Kyle Hawkinson
Huron, SD
XtendiMAX is a new dicamba product. It is very specific about the use of drift control products that need to be used when tankmixing other products like PowerMax. Check the label to be sure what you can and cannot use. — Norland Hofer
It is time to start spraying our first pass on soybeans. Adding a residual product like Warrant at 3 pts/acre will help take care of weed flushes later in the season before crop canopy. — Kyle Wiese
Watertown, SD
If you missed putting down a pre in soybeans and your fields are weedy, you can use Anthem at a rate of 6.5 oz/acre to burn them down and also have some residual control. — Russ Werning
WASHINGTON
Quincy, WA
With wheat harvest just a couple weeks away, it’s a good time to think about post-harvest spraying needs. A quart/acre of Paraquat is a great option post-harvest to get after those hardened off Russian thistles; just remember coverage is important. 12 gal/acre is good, but 15 Gal/acre is better. You will also want to use a good NIS at 1-2 qts/100 gal. — Devin Moon
