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 rice anywhere from 2 leaf to pre-boot and soybeans anywhere from being planted today to all the way through to R2. It has been a crazy year for sure! My corn is R2 and we started the irrigation today. Be looking at some Headline Amp very shortly. It looks like my dicamba soybean producers are retreating back to glyphosate and Flexstar rather than risk crop injury to their neighbor. I am thankful for their good manners but the pigweed situation is about to get even more nasty. — Joey York
ILLINOIS
Georgetown, IL
Keep an eye out for soybean aphids. They are often found on the underside of the newest growth on a soybean plant. Yield losses ranging from 10% to 15% are not uncommon. Purdue University estimates the threshold to be 250 aphids per plant and encourages sampling 20-30 plants. Brian and Darren Hefty on Ag PhD believe the economic threshold is much lower, though. Farmers say Warrior works well in cooler temperatures while Lorsban is faster acting and works well in higher temperatures. — Tyler Smith
Princeton, IL
Marestail is a real problem for many this year. Farmers using a fall burndown of these weeds are seeing much less maretail pressure in the spring. There are several choices available, but watch for a new option from Dow this fall for just this situation. Elevore will contain a new active ingredient from the Group 4 family which will work on up to 8-inch tall marestail. — Mike Denton
MINNESOTA
Fairmont, MN
When scouting soybean fields, I have noticed that diseases are starting to show up. One common disease farmers are worried about at this point is bacterial blight. Having cooler, wetter weather usually triggers this disease to form but usually doesn’t have large amounts of impact on yield. Many other diseases are forming as well, so scouting fields is critical. — Sam Geistfeld
I am sure that you have heard you should consider halting the application of Flexstar herbicide by July 1st to avoid carry-over. If the rains and winds have you backed into a corner, you can consider Cobra (probably 6-8 oz) for control of waterhemp and other unwanted weeds. — Steve Draper
Hancock, MN
Canada thistles in area pastures and ditches are putting buds on. They are just starting to see purple flowers, so they are easy to identify. While fall is the best time to spray Canada thistle, we can reduce the amount of seed they will soon spread as well as decrease the root systems by spraying now with 1.5 pt/acre of GrazonNext or 10 oz/acre of Stinger. — Adam Gibson
Janesville, MN
When spraying Engenia or XtendiMax on your beans, make sure you are following the label very carefully. You can find lists of approved adjuvants, herbicides, and drift reduction agents online. Also, if you aren’t seeing your weeds die in a couple days, be patient. After spraying Engenia or XtendiMax, the weeds may stay green for well over a week before you notice any sign of them turning brown. So far we are seeing a slow kill.
You can find the list of approved tank mixes for each chemical on these websites:
http://www.xtendimaxapplicationrequirements.com – Xtendimax
http://www.engeniatankmix.com – Engenia — Josh Bruns
LeRoy, MN
When is the best timing for spraying fungicide on corn? Typically in our area, the biggest return on fungicide has been after tassel, and many of the dual-mode of action fungicides perform similarly well. Many growers now are wanting to take a look at a V10 application. What this means is they can still use their own ground rig at this time. Make sure you don’t use any surfactant, but we have seen good results with the SDHI mode of action, such as Priaxor and Trivapro — Grant Lunning
Olivia, MN
Cercospora spraying is about to begin on sugar beets in the area. Now would be good time to revisit your plans for the season with your supplier as the program has changed quite a bit from the last couple years. — John Scheibel
Thief River Falls, MN
Much of the area spring wheat is in boot stage right now and will be heading out in the next 5-10 days. If you plan on spraying a head scab fungicide on your wheat, checking your fields daily, or at least every other day, is important for optimum timing of application at Feekes 10.5.1 — Jordan Swanson
This year in our area we have been seeing a fair amount of soybean fields that are being affected by iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC) to some degree. While there isn’t much you can do post, start planning for the coming years by considering Soygreen, an in-furrow chelated iron product. Also make sure to select a variety with a good IDC score. Ultimately improving drainage where possible is the true “fix” to allow soil pH to come down and other conditions to dissipate. — Rachel Klein
Winthrop, MN
The last few nights we have been below 50 degrees, so when planning your herbicide application, make sure to increase your rates of Roundup and Liberty. Also, let the daytime temperatures warm up to 70 degrees before spraying to get the best results. — Dean Christiansen
I have been seeing a lot of yellow beans in the country side, right now I will say, don’t panic and once we get a little more heat, the beans should grow out of it. I wouldn’t suggest spraying a Soygreen type product foliar. The beans will green up, but we have not seen much yield benefit from spraying this product or another iron-type product foliar. Soygreen in-furrow works well, though. — Tyler Gasow
If you are looking for a volunteer corn killer with your Xtend beans, Select Max and Volunteer are the only two products on label right now with the new XtendiMax. Be sure to bump the rate up a couple of ounces to get a good kill as we have seen some antagonism when mixing a corn killer with dicamba products. — Matt Vogel
MISSOURI
Bertrand, MO
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
Most of the late soybeans have been planted around here. Some area farmers are waiting for potatoes to be harvested from their fields before they can finish planting soybeans. — Albert Duenne
Hayti, MO
Rain has prevented many post applications of Liberty in Liberty Link soybeans, and many of the pigweeds are reaching a size that control is questionable, especially if rain continues for another week. Prefix with Liberty plus ammonia sulfate would get best results. The timing of pigweed spraying is very important. When it is delayed by several days, results can be less than desirable control. — Danny Stevens
Plant bugs in cotton are starting to reach threshold. If you are mixing insecticides with herbicides, be sure to read the label for tankmixes. — Danny Stevens
Sidney, MT
As I am out scouting soybean fields with producers, something to keep in mind for soybeans is to apply a fungicide on your beans at R2 (full bloom). Soybean farmers have found this gives you good plant health benefits (reduced stress), which on average leads to more yield. — Chet Hill
NORTH DAKOTA
Hillsboro, ND
We are seeing iron deficiency chlorosis in virtually every soybean field. Going out with an iron product will only give you a visual sense of security. We have not seen this pay off unless it was done in-furrow. — Ryan Pierce
Lisbon, ND
Aphids are showing up in the area in soybeans. Be sure to scout your fields to see if they need to be addressed. Many people are out spraying now and if aphids are becoming a problem, they can be taken care of for less than $2/acre. — Spencer Schultz
Mohall, ND
There are a lot of yellow beans across North Dakota and parts of eastern Minnesota. We are going to try Micro600 from AgroLiquid to see if we get a positive reaction. Keep in mind that some universities say there is nothing you can do for iron deficiency chlorosis once the plant is big, but they haven’t tried every product. We will try this one with caution and an optimistic hope. — 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
There are still no flowers in the fields by Baltic, but they are coming soon. R1 is the end point for application for lots of products – so we need to get spraying. White mold comes in on dead flowers so we need to be spraying soon with white mold control products. — Rob Fritz
Gettysburg, SD
Farmers are noticing a difference in crop safety with Status and DiFlexx in corn due to the crop safeners they contain. Other dicamba products like Banvel and Clarity do not have those safeners and should not be used in corn this size. — Kyle Hawkinson
Huron, SD
Having a form of drift control is always important in case wind conditions come up. I recommend using Latch. Latch is a drift control and canopy penetrating agent as well as a deposition aid. It helps reduce the fine particles that cause herbicide drift, and is good with air induction and flat fan nozzles. The labeled rate is 4-6 oz/acre, so the low use rate is extremely convenient! — Kyle Wiese
Watertown, SD
If you have a problem with poison ivy, you can apply Remedy Ultra at 1 qt/acre. This should control that pesky weed. — Jack Beutler
Weeds in soybeans are becoming harder to kill with Roundup. Consider a tankmix partner like Flexstar at a rate of 6 oz/acre to do a nice job in your beans. Don’t forget to add NIS 1 qt/100 gal of water. Since Flexstar has a 10 month rotational restriction to corn, applications should be made soon. — Russ Werning
Guys in the area have been seeing a flush of volunteer corn; a lot of it is very short at this time. There are a few very good options to use. The first one and most likely your best kill would be Fusilade at a rate of 4 oz/acre. Otherwise a few cheaper options would be Select Max or a generic at a rate of 6 oz/acre. — Beau Wensing
WASHINGTON
Quincy, WA
I am getting reports of growers finding aphids in canola around Wilbur and Almira. Aphids can do severe damage, even as late-stage as winter canola is in. Warrior II at 1.92 oz/acre will clean them up. Mustang Maxx at the 4 oz rate is also labeled for Washington. — Dave Dye
