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
That rice is jumping now. Joints have really started to move out this week. You better get any levee spraying or last minute herbicide applications done before it gets too far out there. Some growers are on their second post application of Liberty and getting the poly pipe out for irrigation. We are still pretty clean in most areas, but don’t leave off the second Liberty application where you know you have heavy pigweed pressure or you will probably regret it later. Keep them under control! — Joey York
ILLINOIS
Georgetown, IL
Make sure you are still out scouting your fields. I am starting to see a lot more insect damage in soybean fields. Scouting is your best defense against insects. Insecticides are relatively cheap to stop and insecticides can have a very positive return on investment. — Tyler Smith
Princeton, IL
Remember to add a product such as Se-Cure or Fusilade to your post soybean application to eliminate volunteer corn. This weed in your soybean fields can be much tougher to control on the next pass and is quite a yield robber. — Mike Denton
Conditions are extremely favorable for developing white mold in soybeans. 6 to 8 ounces of Cobra from now until R1 can help protect plants against developing white mold later in the season. Use up to 12.5 ounces if weed control is needed. — John Becker
These are talking about marestail but different rec’s…which one should I take/should I combine them somehow? They’re independent of each other and both good. — Mike Denton
I recently visited a Wisconsin grower who was having issues with thistle caterpillars. Thistle caterpillars are the larva of the painted lady butterfly. These are showing up in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois this year in some regions. This pest is not your typical soybean pest and can be aggressive leaf defoliators. Some “hot spots” may require an insecticide if defoliation reaches 20% or more after flowering. — Mike Denton
IOWA
Rockwell, IA
It’s important to read the label on your chemicals. Some of the corn you need to spray may be too tall so you may have to put drops on your sprayer. — Mike Jaeger
Sheldon, IA
We have been receiving a lot of questions regarding waterhemp not dying in Xtend fields. These weeds are dying but the herbicide kills in a different way than most herbicides do. These plants will take multiple weeks to actually brown up and die, but you can pull the plant and take a look at the root to get the complete picture. The root and stem area at ground level will swell up and become brown. This tells you the plant is going to die even though it looks very green and healthy above ground. — Adam Sauer
MINNESOTA
Fairmont, MN
Now might be a good time to look at your soybean fields and note all of the iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC) spots. In the next couple of years when you rotate back to those fields, you might want to consider an in-furrow treatment of a chelated iron product. The 2 best products that we have found are Soygreen and Greenbean in the liquid formulations that can be applied though a liquid injection system. They will give a huge difference in yield and keep your plants green all year long. — Mike Bates
Hancock, MN
Corn in the area is finally getting some height and closing rows. This is a last chance to get some fungicide or fertilizer on with a ground rig. A few tissue samples in the area are showing deficiencies in boron in corn. This would be an easy fix with some 10% liquid boron or Solubor. — Adam Gibson
Janesville, MN
If raising canning crops, make sure you check your pre-harvest intervals if you plan on making a pass with insecticide. — Ray Johnson
LeRoy, MN
If one of your fields happens to get hit by hail, fungicide is not a bad idea. Disease can creep in through the lesions caused by the hail. There are many options, some of which cost as little as $6/acre for a full rate. — Grant Lunning
Marshall, MN
Most of the replanted areas of the corn fields are growing fine, although canopy could still be a while out. Some of those areas may need to be sprayed again before the corn gets too tall in order to reach those spots well. If you’ve already used an HPPD product like Callisto or Impact, then I would use Status and spray those areas. — Dave Timmerman
Many of the bean fields in the area may not see full canopy closure this year. This is going to make it very easy to get late season weed pressure. An in-crop residual control product like Warrant or Dual would be highly recommended to try to keep this to a minimum. — John Wiese
Olivia, MN
The first fungicide application on sugar beets is about to begin. Super Tin and a form of Topsin will be the products of choice. — Aaron Spronk
There are many bean fields that are looking yellow across the whole field and not just in the iron deficiency chlorosis spots. Some of the fields are a full trifoliate behind fields that look good. The lack of heat seems to be playing a role along with beans that were treated versus untreated. The treated soybeans seem to be handling the stresses of the cool, wet weather better, and therefore are further along and much greener. — John Scheibel
Now would be a great time to see if your soybeans are fixing nitrogen. Pull up a plant and look for small swellings on the roots called nodules. Cut some of these nodules open and if you see pink/red, then you know the nodules are fixing nitrogen. If you do not see very many nodules on the roots or they are small, then you may have applied more nitrogen fertilizer then you needed and should keep this in mind for next year. — Tony Hagen
Thief River Falls, MN
Most of the barley in our area is fully headed out. It’s a great looking crop out there and most growers are working to protect that barley from diseases like fusarium head blight (head scab). Prosaro at 6.5 oz/acre or Caramba at 13.5 oz/acre are my top two recommendations for protecting barley from scab as well as rust. — Jordan Swanson
If you need to spray volunteer corn on your Xtend bean acres, make sure you are using Select Max or Volunteer if you plan to tankmix them with your dicamba of choice. Those are the only two products that are labeled to be tankmixed with XtendiMax or Engenia. — Rachel Klein
Winthrop, MN
If you are spraying XtendiMax or Engenia this season on your soybean acres, make sure to add the proper additives that are labeled for your drift reduction agent (DRA). This is a great new herbicide option (dicamba in-crop) and we need to follow the label to avoid any problems. — Dean Christiansen
Volunteer corn is one of the worst weeds to have in your beans, weed for weed. It’s a high nutrient robbing weed and also serves as a place for corn rootworm to call home and create a problem in your corn fields the next year. Some of my favorite products that I like to use for volunteer corn come from the “fop” family. These chemistries include: Fusilade, Assure II, and Se-Cure. The other family of volunteer corn herbicides is the “dim” family: Select Max, Volunteer, and Dakota. — Tyler Gasow
If you are becoming worried about soybean white mold with the wet year we have been having, look at putting down a fungicide such as Domark to help fight it. If you do get some white mold that comes through, be sure to spot spray some Contans this fall after harvest to get rid of the sclerotia that lives in the soil and causes it. — Matt Vogel
MISSOURI
Bertrand, MO
Some farmers in our area are applying an insecticide such as Prevathon at 14 oz/acre and a fungicide like Headline Amp at 12 oz/acre on their corn right now. — Albert Duenne
When applying XtendiMax or Engenia on dicamba-tolerant soybeans, remember to maintain a safe border distance near a sensitive downwind crop and avoid spraying if there is an air inversion. Late evening sprays have left the herbicide in a liquid form on the leaf for much longer periods of time, so common sense says to get your spraying done in the middle of the day when possible. — Albert Duenne
MONTANA
Sidney, MT
Tankmixing a grass herbicide with Proline is ok. However, avoid really hot days with the high rates of crop oil concentrates (COC). Growers claim that methylated seed oil (MSO) is a little safer, but here are a few rules with either COC or MSO use. 1) Consult the grass herbicide adjuvant recommendations. 2) Check the crop stage as certain products are not labeled past flowering. 3) In general, crop response to oils can be lessened by reducing high rates of either MSO or COC down to ½ to 1 gallon per 100 gallons of water rather than 1 to 2 pints per acre. — Chet Hill
NEBRASKA
West Point, NE
Make sure you are out scouting your fields so you can spray your soybean fields in a timely manner. Waterhemp can grow several inches in a very short amount of time. — Jared Steffensmeier
NORTH DAKOTA
Hillsboro, ND
Some wheat is at flag leaf and a lot of it is even past this. If you haven’t already, consider spraying 13 oz of Caramba or 6.5 oz of Prosaro at 10-15% flowering. Both of these rates are on the lower end but we’ve seen better results in recent years with these products versus with generic Folicur. Protect your investment; Caramba and Prosaro are the best two products to protect you against head scab. — Ryan Pierce
Lisbon, ND
Make sure to check your fields for aphids. There have been small numbers in some fields around the area. If you still have a post pass to do on your soybeans, you can use Kendo at 3.84 oz/acre to control aphids. — Adam Ladwig
Mohall, ND
I recently looked at a durum field in many growth stages due to emergence problems. The field ranged from 2-leaf to 5-leaf, all within the same half mile of row length. I recommended PerfectMatch for weed control in this situation because of its wide application window. — Ron Hefta
Webster, ND
Our spring wheat fields are just about to flag leaf. Flag leaf is perfect fungicide timing to help reduce rusts (leaf, stem, and stripe), tan spot, and powdery mildew. If you do not plan to spray for head scab protection at 10-15% flowering, you can spray a generic Folicur for under $2/acre now. However, if you will be spraying Prosaro or generic Folicur at heading, choose another chemistry at flag leaf. — Stephanie Stensgard
SOUTH DAKOTA
Baltic, SD
I have been talking to a few farmers that are looking to respray some corn acres. If you are in this situation, please read the labels for crop height and stage restrictions, as well as rotational intervals. — Tyler Koenig
Centerville, SD
When spraying soybeans, make sure you know what adjuvants to add. When using Flexstar or a generic Flexstar with Roundup, you may want to use an MSO instead of NIS to make the chemical get through the plants’ cuticles better. There will be a little more leaf burn on the soybeans, but the added control makes it worth it. — Ryan Kusser
Freeman, SD
The size of the soybeans in the Freeman area varies greatly. With that said, you should be scouting early and often for bugs and diseases. Both insecticides and fungicides are reasonably priced and could gain you a couple bushels if disease or insects are caught early. — Lee Dockendorf
Gettysburg, SD
If you are running Express plus a clethodim product, make sure you up the rate of clethodim to 10 oz/acre. The clethodim activity is reduced slightly when added with a broadleaf product due to antagonism. — Kyle Hawkinson
Huron, SD
If you are adding clethodim as your corn killer to Xtend soybeans, make sure to up the rate 2 to 3 ounces. There can be some antagonism with dicamba and clethodim. — Garritt Dykstra
Some new seeding conventional alfalfa has a lot of grasses coming through now. In order to control these, using products like Select and Raptor with COC at their labeled rates will do a great job taking care of many grasses. — Kyle Wiese
Kimball, SD
I have gotten some questions about spraying Liberty the last few days. Specifically, farmers are asking about performance with the cooler temperatures we have been seeing. My recommendation is to never spray Liberty unless it’s above 85 degrees. Look at the weekly weather forecast and pick the warmer days for this herbicide. I know it’s tough to stay out of the fields, but Liberty performs the best when it’s hot and miserable outside. — Jeremy Nedved
Watertown, SD
With the hail we have had in the area, some growers have been replanting soybeans. If you are considering replanting corn acres with a different crop like winter wheat or soybeans, make sure you watch the rotation restrictions on the chemical you used as a pre-emerge. Most pre-emerges for corn have a restriction to crops like soybeans and winter wheat. — Beau Wensing
WASHINGTON
Quincy, WA
The second round of no-till chem-fallow has begun in our area. The number one thing out there is China lettuce. It’s hot, it’s mad, and it’s very hard to kill at this time. Using 2,4-D products and dicamba will help with this and is crucial in this warm weather. Increasing your harsh, low volatile 2,4-D ester may not be the answer. Try using a blended, non-volatile ester like D-638. It has shown very good results by most growers I have talked to. Adding a couple ounces of dicamba to your 2,4-D/glyphosate mix will also help. Select a dicamba like Detonate, which is less antagonistic to the glyphosate than other dicamba products. — Dave Dye
