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
While getting ready to spray V4 corn this next week, you may need to bump your Halex GT rate to 2 qts/acre. If a field has really heavy weed pressure from all the wet weather and you have a heavy Palmer amaranth infestation, you may need to bump your rate a little. — Joey York
It’s amazing how sunshine and warm weather can turn things around. With the 2 week delay in planting, consider adding paraquat or Roundup to your pre-emerge to control emerged vegetation. — Perry Galloway
Wednesday – Rice is anywhere from 2-4 leaf. All of it looks as though it had been hit hard with herbicide and most of it hadn’t! Cool, wet weather has really taken a toll. It would be great if we could get the grass sprayed and get 100 lbs/acre of ammonia sulfate out before next rain event. — Joey York
ILLINOIS
Georgetown, IL
With saturated soils, be on the lookout for signs of disease in soybean fields. If your fields are experiencing emergence issues, patches of sick plants, or dead plants, it is possible you have soil-borne diseases such as phytophthora on poorly drained soils. Look for brown tap roots as this is one of the easiest ways to identify phytophthora. The best way to control this disease is with a strong seed treatment or having the correct phytophthora tolerant variety. — Evan Zimmerman
Princeton, IL
Depth and spacing are key in getting good, even emergence! — Kyle Bickett
Some of the corn that has emerged after the recent cold and wet spell is very yellow and struggling. Allow your corn a couple of days of recovery before beginning early post applications of herbicide. It will metabolize the chemical better when under less stress. — Mike Denton
IOWA
Sheldon, IA
As corn planting gets completed and soybean planting starts, don’t forget to get a pre-emerge herbicide out on your corn. The best way to have a clean field is to start clean and stay ahead of the weed pressure. Harness, TripleFLEX and SureStart are great products that give great residual before you need to come back with a post herbicide later. — Adam Sauer
Iowa growers are transitioning from corn to soybeans, but there is the still time to treat your soybeans. Even though the temperatures are rising, fungicide seed treatments still can give your plant the healthy start it needs to fight off disease. If you are in areas that are known to have disease pressure like sudden death syndrome, ILeVO fungicide seed treatment would be a great choice. For the price of beans today, it would only take a few bushels an acre to pay for itself. — Nathan Kloft
Didn’t get a pre down on corn or beans yet? Don’t leave it out. Managing weeds pre is still the best way to eliminate major weed issues season long and ensure your crops aren’t competing for moisture and nutrients. Post-plant/pre-emerge options are very effective on beans and corn and will ensure you’re not doubling your post spray program costs. — Connor Majerus
MINNESOTA
Breckenridge, MN
Before spraying a pre-emerge herbicide, make sure to see if you have many weeds emerged. If a decent amount of weeds have emerged, you might want to consider throwing in a burndown like Sharpen because many pre’s don’t have burndown activity. — Tia Johnson
Fairmont, MN
Crabgrass will start germinating in your yard at 50 degree ground temperature. Use a lawn fertilizer with crabgrass herbicide for early control. If you do not get this done, a post application of Quinclorac will take care of the problem also. — Hans Hinrichsen
Hancock, MN
Local alfalfa growers that are looking at higher tonnage and relative feed value (RFV) are planning to apply a fungicide on their alfalfa. By treating now after this cold snap and frost, the new leaves are protected from disease when they become the lower third of the canopy. Quite often the lower leaves in the canopy fall off when disease sets in. This results in less yield and RFV. Headline or Equation fungicide would be good choices to use. — Adam Gibson
If you’re looking for a little added horsepower on your soybean pre-emerge, consider adding metribuzin. In the high pH soils around our area, you’ll have to keep the rates lower (around 2 oz/acre), but that 2 oz adds a nice complement to your pre for just over $1.50/acre. — Aaron Giese
In the rush of springtime, things you were planning on trying don’t always get done. Doing test trials on your farm will be a direct benefit to you. Make sure you are trying a few new things on your farm each year. — Nathan DuHoux
Janesville, MN
Yesterday there were high wind speeds in our area. When deciding whether to spray, make sure you factor in wind speed, sensitive crops, and the potential for inversion to avoid off-target movement. — Ray Johnson
LeRoy, MN
There was a lot of corn that got put in the ground this weekend. Remember, if you are using Verdict, that needs to be applied before the corn comes up. If you need some extra burndown with the Verdict, add MSO at 1 gal/100 gal of water and some Roundup. — Grant Lunning
Olivia, MN
Corn is beginning to emerge in Renville County. Corn and soybeans are going in at the same time. There are still some sugar beets that need to be planted as well. — Aaron Spronk
Seed treatment will still pay as the temperatures warm up, especially Hefty Complete. You get the benefits of a fungicide and insecticide to help protect the seed from insects and diseases, along with QuickRoots and inoculant for root development and nodulation. — John Scheibel
If you need to spray weeds in your yard but are afraid of killing your flowers from drift, use Freelexx. Freelexx is a new 2,4-D formulation that has virtually no drift. — Tony Hagen
Thief River Falls, MN
Using starter fertilizer on corn can really help with getting the corn out of the ground faster. AgroLiquid has highly effective starter fertilizers that contain the N, P, K, and a micronutrient package to get your corn off to a great start this spring. Growers prefer their product because they can often use less gallons per acre than others plus AgroLiquid has less salt than many of the industry blends that have been around for a long time. — Jordan Swanson
Overnight temperatures are still not adequate for perfect planting conditions, so the best option you have for your seed is to add a seed treatment to it. Inoculant sometimes is not enough to handle variable conditions. Look into using a fungicide and QuickRoots to limit the potential for stress to set in early. — Alex Yaggie
Ulen, MN
Keep in mind even with the newer chemistry in soybeans with Xtend and Liberty, you should still use a pre on these acres, not only for weed control, but to extend the life cycle of the chemistry. Roundup looked like the greatest thing ever a few years ago and we all know how that has turned out. There should be a good supply of Authority products as well as Valor, metribuzin (Sencor) and Surveil, just to name a few. It is well documented there is a yield advantage for early weed control, so any of these products would be a good place to start. — Greg Peterson
Winthrop, MN
If you want to spray any kind of 2,4-D (in the field, a ditch, around the yard, etc.) I would suggest that you forget about the ester or amine formulations, and spray the new choline formulated Freelexx. Freelexx is a lot safer to use and costs about the same as an amine or ester. — Tyler Gasow
If you are spraying weeds in your lawn or ditches, make sure to spray when the temperature is at least 60 degrees or higher for the best control. Products such as Freelexx, Tricast, Curtail, Grazon P+D, and 2,4-D ester all do a good job in the right situation. Freelexx is the new 2,4-D choline product that is very low drift. — Dean Christiansen
Be sure to be in the field checking for emergence after your corn gets in the ground. A healthy and uniform stand is key to getting the highest possible yields this fall. Having all your plants emerge within 24 hours of each other should be your goal. This will also be a good time to take stand counts to be sure you weren’t affected by insects or soil diseases while the seed sat in the ground. — Matt Vogel
MISSOURI
Bertrand, MO
Many area corn growers are beginning to apply an early post herbicide. Some growers are using Atrazine 4L at 1 pt/acre with 3-5 oz/acre of Status. Try to apply Status no later than V5 as this is the critical time for crop growth and weed control. — Albert Duenne
Hayti, MO
Verdict can be used very effectively at a time like this when the weather has caused delays in burndown, planting, etc. Verdict at 5 oz/acre can be used up until pre-emerge, has quick burndown activity on broadleaf weeds, and has residual soil activity to control later flushes of annual grasses, pigweed, velvetleaf, and morningglory. — Barry Gilmore
MONTANA
Sidney, MT
Winter wheat producers, be sure to scout your winter wheat fields to see what stage the crop is in. Based on the stage of the crop and the weed spectrum, you may have to choose a different herbicide. — Chester Hill
NEBRASKA
Laurel, NE
We have a lot of chemical and fertilizer lying on top of the ground without a rain. If you have a pivot, I would suggest watering in what you have done. — Kody Urwiler
Weeds are getting bigger and tougher to kill, even with tillage. I’m seeing some vertical tillage equipment not getting weeds killed. — Rusty Reifenrath
West Point, NE
Make sure you are using the correct herbicides on fields that are starting to emerge. — Jared Steffensmeier
Make sure to be checking your planting depth. I know we’re all in a hurry this time of year, but I was just out checking a field and found that it was being planted too shallow. Make sure to check your work. — Jacob Gubbels
NORTH DAKOTA
Hurdsfield, ND
Even if you’re planting Xtend soybeans this year, do not skip a pre herbicide. A great option to control kochia would be 11 oz/acre of Authority MTZ. It can be applied before or after seeding. — Emily Kline
Lisbon, ND
With weeds starting to pop up a little more, you may need to add something to your pre-emerge application to get more burndown. Make sure you are checking your fields before you spray to see if an additional product is needed such as Roundup, Aim, or Gramoxone. — Adam Ladwig
Mohall, ND
I talked to a producer of non-Roundup Ready corn the other day. He was planting conventional corn on strip-till. He has cheat grass in the center of the rows and no burndown. Stop the planter and spray 32 oz/acre of RT 3 if you’re in crop options that are not top shelf. If you are dealing with cheat grass, it will produce seed in 45 days. Spray a burndown and start clean. — Ron Hefta
Wilton, ND
Young wheat is emerging. Now is a good time to check fields for any weeds or abnormalities in those fields. — Jamie Schurhamer
SOUTH DAKOTA
Aberdeen, SD
Take extra precautions when spraying this year because there are many different soybean traits out there. Be mindful of what you have planted as well as what’s in your neighbor’s fields. You don’t want to take a chance and end up having drift issues. Use a good drift control agent such as Lockamba or Sedate Max. — Tanner Johnson
Baltic, SD
A farmer asked me the other day if he should get his corn pre on or plant his beans? If it were me, I would plant my soybeans and follow the planter with my soybean pre product since most of the soybean pre products have to be applied before the soybeans emerge. Once I was done with planting soybeans and have the soybean pre on, then I would switch to corn pre. Remember, most corn pre products can be sprayed up to 11-inch tall corn. — Tyler Koenig
Many growers are finishing up with corn planting and switching to soybeans. Make sure you have your soybean pre herbicides on hand, as many of them need to be applied within 3 days after planting. — Wes Jepsen
Centerville, SD
A 60 bushel soybean crop needs 260 pounds of nitrogen, but it only obtains 50 to 75 percent of its required nitrogen through biological nitrogen fixation, which is pulled in from the air. The rest of your nitrogen comes from your organic matter mineralization and nitrogen left in the soil. Help maximize your nitrogen intake and soybean yield potential by adding an inoculant when treating your soybeans or in the planter box. — Ryan Kusser
Freeman, SD
Authority First at 4 oz/acre is a superb product with good residual for producers that are struggling with large seeded broadleaves in their soybeans such as giant and common ragweed. — Matt Zilverberg
Gettysburg, SD
If you have spring wheat that needs to be sprayed, make sure you let the wheat get into the 3 leaf stage before you spray most products. — Kyle Hawkinson
Huron, SD
Spring wheat spraying is right around the corner. Make sure to scout your field for tansy mustard and any other winter annuals. WideMatch is great for most broadleaves but a little weak on winter annuals. Add 5.5 oz/acre of LV6 (or Frelexx, the new form of 2,4-D with less volatility) and that will knock out any winter annuals. — Garritt Dykstra
When switching from corn pre’s, be sure to use a good tank cleaner like Erase so you don’t have crop injury. — Norland Hofer
Kimball, SD
When applying a pre on your soybeans, try adding MSO at 1 gal/100 gal. It will give you better burndown results and won’t cost a lot to add. — Mike Erickson
New Underwood, SD
When battling winter annuals in barley, Starane NXT at 16 oz/acre with a surfactant will kill your actively growing weeds. — Tyler Price
Watertown, SD
If you plan on using a liquid insecticide in your liquid fertilizer, make sure it is liquid fertilizer ready (LFR). Not all insecticides are compatible. — Russ Werning
If you have some troublesome weeds already up when you go to apply your corn pre, you may want to add 0.75-1 pt/acre of dicamba. This will help with kochia and lambsquarters. — Jack Beutler
With the soybeans being planted, it is a good idea to put on a fungicide and insecticide treatment to ensure seed and seedling safety. Also, to get your beans an early boost, inoculating them is also a great idea to gain yield. — Beau Wensing
