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.
IDAHO
Buhl, ID
Most of the corn is getting past the V2 stage, so we should be switching away from Clarity to a tankmix partner that is safer for V3 corn like Impact, Status, or Armezon Pro. — Tyson Goossen
ILLINOIS
Georgetown, IL
A fair amount of corn is getting close to the growth stage cut-off for many herbicides. Check your corn prior to application. Herbicide timing in corn is something that can often times be over looked. Remember to always follow the label on all herbicide applications. — Tyler Smith
Princeton, IL
We are seeing some fomesafen carryover in some of this year’s corn. A dry summer and fall combined with late applications trying to stop waterhemp outbreaks led to most of this carryover. Most injury is confined to point rows and sprayer overlaps. — John Becker
IOWA
Rockwell, IA
Most post-emerge corn crop protection goods will perform best, and safely, on most soils tankmixed with 1 pt of Atrazine 4L. If you want dry over liquid, use 0.56 lb of dry “DF” Atrazine. Both dry and liquid will get you one half pound of active ingredient desired with the tank mix partner. — Paul Helland
KANSAS
Garden City, KS
In-furrow treatments of chelated iron can be effective in the prevention of IDC, but when conditions remain wet due to weather or irrigation, iron can start to move out of the root zone. Any signs of chlorosis will usually dissipate once irrigation/rainfall is suspended and plants are able to root down into the iron application. — Chris Lobmeyer
Hancock, MN
When looking at HPPD chemistries, Laudis is around twice the cost of Callisto. This being said, there are a few added benefits that you can see from Laudis over Callisto. Laudis, depending what your crop rotation is, may be more friendly to your rotation. Along with that, Laudis has a safener in it that also safens Clarity. This gives you a wider application window to apply Clarity on corn than you would normally have. — Aaron Giese
LeRoy, MN
It is very important to mix up your herbicides this season. Some growers want to rely only on dicamba in soybeans. That would be a mistake. If you want to use dicamba, make sure you are using a residual as well. We like to see at least 3 effective modes of action each season on tough weeds. If they are Roundup resistant, Roundup would not count as an “effective” mode of action. — Grant Lunning
Olivia, MN
With all the heat and spotty showers around, there are a lot of beans that have been planted without a pre down, and they are emerging quickly. If this happened to you, it’s time to change up your plan. I would suggest Anthem Maxx, Dual, or Outlook instead of your pre. — Brandon Howard
With the recent heat, corn is growing very fast, and so are weeds. Many guys will be making a post application in corn this week. Keep in mind that HPPD’s have really come down in price and are a cheap yet effective option in corn. 3 oz of Laudis with MSO or 3 oz of generic Callisto with NIS are a couple options to consider. — Tony Hagen
Thief River Falls, MN
Spring wheat is coming along nicely, and herbicide spraying will be starting in a few days. If you’re looking for a new product to control weeds, Talinor brings a new mode of action, bicyclopyrone, to weed control in spring wheat and barley, and could be a great option for your farm. — Jordan Swanson
Winthrop, MN
If you are spraying your ditches or fenceline areas and have Xtend soybeans, using Xtendimax or Engenia on these areas may be your best option. With the moisture and heat in recent days, weeds are growing fast, so spray when weeds are under 4” for best results. — Dean Christiansen
Make sure to always have a jug of tank cleaner on hand this time of year. Many growers are switching back and forth from soybeans to corn and a good tank cleaner during clean out can prevent tank contamination and crop injury. — Matt Vogel
I have had conversations with a few farmers that plan to use a fungicide application at V4-V7 in corn this year. It sounds like most will be using products like Priaxor, Preemptor, Fortix, or Trivapro. These products have 2 to 3 modes of action to fight resistance and broaden the spectrum of disease protection. — Tyler Gasow
MISSOURI
Bertrand, MO
If you are thinking about adding a residual to your tankmix for your soybeans, you could use a product like Warrant at 2 – 3 pts/acre. — Albert Duenne
Hayti, MO
With rice getting ready to go to flood, it’s important to address all weeds present. Run a mix of propanil at a gallon per acre for any small grasses. For larger grass, run 16 oz of Loyant. For broadleaf weeds, use a mix of Permit Plus and Facet. — Ryan Wilson
Some soybean replant is happening in the area. There are also some borderline fields being left as is. Carefully digging up some plants and rinsing the roots will reveal the quality of nodulation for those stands that were in question. On beans with less than optimal nodulation (fewer than 20 by V2-V4), a foliar N source may be beneficial. We use a product called Adrenali-N, at a 1-gallon rate. Foliar N is not for every soybean acre but can make a difference where plants aren’t fixing enough of their own due to early conditions. — Danny Stevens
MONTANA
Sidney, MT
Controlling buckwheat has been the concern of many producers the past few days. Some herbicides that have good control include Affinity BroadSpec, GoldSky, Huskie, Supremacy, Talinor, and WideMatch. Some of these have some rotational restrictions so please check. Also make sure you are identifying wild buckwheat (annual with simple taproot) versus field bindweed (perennial with rhizomes). — Chet Hill
NEBRASKA
Laurel, NE
We are finding a lot of bugs in alfalfa, so be prepared to spray after you get the first cutting put up. 1 pt of Lorsban does a good job. — Rusty Reifenrath
Seward, NE
The first cutting of alfalfa is happening right now. One question from growers is “what should we do if we have feeding from alfalfa weevil larvae and other pests?” Products like Lorsban at 1.5 pts/acre will help reduce the insect pressure that we have in our alfalfa. The one caution is harvest interval if you decide to spray pre-harvest. It has a 21-day pre-harvest interval to follow. Otherwise, application after harvest would be effective, if defoliation isn’t too severe, to help control alfalfa weevil larvae and other feeding pest problems. — Brad Meusch
West Point, NE
I have been running across some weeds that we haven’t had to deal with for some time. One of these is black nightshade. One of the best solutions is to use a product containing Pursuit, like Extreme or Thunder Master. Use 3 pints per acre for the best results. — Mike Wiese
NORTH DAKOTA
Lisbon, ND
Wheat herbicide spraying is right around the corner. Remember that if you have grasses such as wild oats in your wheat, make sure you are using a product such as Huskie Complete that has some grass control. Straight Huskie does not. — Adam Ladwig
Mohall, ND
Everest 3.0 is a great option post in wheat. It will have good control over grass weeds like wild oat and green foxtail. For even better control, tank mix it with one of the Affinity products or a generic. Everest 3.0 is a new formulation that flows way better than 2.0. — Wyatt Thompson
Webster, ND
I was out in some canola fields today and saw a fair amount of flea beetles feeding on the young canola leaves. These growers and I decided to spray as we felt that the threshold of 25% was reached. They went with a generic Warrior II at 3 oz per acre plus 1 pt per 100 of NIS. — Shawn Knudson
SOUTH DAKOTA
Aberdeen, SD
I was recently out in a corn field that had some patches of hairy vetch growing. The field was sprayed with Verdict as a pre-emerge, but Verdict has no activity on vetch. A product that is a growth regulator, such as Stinger or Banvel, will more than likely need to be used to control this weed. — Tanner Johnson
Gettysburg, SD
Farmers have been having really good luck running generic Callisto at 3 oz/acre to help aid in burning down emerged weeds as well as adding residual in corn acres. For a full rate of 3 oz, it will costs right around $3.50/acre. Farmers have noted that adding 0.25 – 0.5 lbs of Atrazine in the tank mix has improved weed control. — Eric Butz
Kimball, SD
There are a lot of thistles popping through the grass in pastures. It’s a busy time with planting and spraying row crops, but don’t forget about your pasture acres. 32 oz of GrazonNext will do a great job of killing musk and Canada thistles and has residual that will last a long time. — Mike Erickson
Watertown, SD
Some corn fields in the area are getting pretty weedy, so make sure you are scouting your fields. The last rain and heat we’ve had made weeds take off. Use Callisto, Laudis, or Status for those hard-to-control weeds. — Russ Werning
