The Ag PhD Crop Scouting Reports are supplied by Hefty Seed Co., based in Baltic, South Dakota. Find more online at www.agphd.com and www.heftyseed.com.
IDAHO
Buhl, ID
Make sure you are scouting your corn fields for Western corn rootworm beetles. These pests can reduce yield by feeding on the silk of the ear as adults, as well as laying their eggs in the soil which could impact next year due to larval feeding. There are many cheap insecticides that can be used to help control these beetles. Just be sure to keep an eye on the pre-harvest intervals, especially if the product contains bifenthrin. — Cameron Woody
Scout your beet fields for powdery mildew. 6-7 oz/acre of Priaxor is one option for control. — Tyson Goossen
ILLINOIS
Georgetown, IL
Sudden death has begun to appear in the area on earlier planted soybeans. The weather early on was cool and damp which can favor SDS. Unfortunately it is too late to do anything this year but we can plan for next year. Pick varieties that are less susceptible to SDS and weigh your options concerning planting date and seed treatments like ILeVO. — Jay Winland
Princeton, IL
This crop isn’t in the bin yet. It may be hot and humid outside but it’s still in your best interest to keep scouting fields. Soybean aphids have been found in treatable numbers this week. Water hemp is poking out of the bean canopy. SDS is starting to show itself, as well. In corn, there are areas where Western bean cutworms are doing significant ear damage. There just aren’t late treatment options for some of these problems. Make it a point to learn from this year’s trouble spots and avoid them next year! — John Becker
While out scouting your beans or walking your beans cutting out weeds, look and see if you have SDS starting in your beans. In many spots it is just starting and in a couple other cases it is very apparent from driving by. — Kyle Bickett
IOWA
Rockwell, IA
I was out in some fields yesterday and found only a few aphids. Keep scouting your fields at least weekly for pressure. — Tim Nuehring
Sheldon, IA
Aphid numbers continue to rise. Replanted and late planted fields are the areas where you will want to focus your attention because the aphids will like the newer growth. 40 aphids at R4 can justify spraying. — Adam Sauer
MINNESOTA
Breckenridge, MN
We have started to see aphids in our area and even some spider mites. Be vigilant in watching for these pests. Kendo at 3.2 oz will take care of aphids and Nufos 4E at 1 pint will take care of spider mites. — Tia Johnson
Fairmont, MN
Soybeans in our immediate area look great and a wise investment would be to apply a fungicide with insecticide for aphids. Plant health is so important during the stress days of August. — Steve Draper
Aphid spraying is in full effect. A generic bifenthrin at 6.4 oz is a good choice to kill aphids and give a little bit of residual. You can also throw in a generic Quadris for under 7 dollars to give you disease protection. — Evan Oberdieck
Hancock, MN
Pre-lift for sugar beets is starting in our area on August 9th. Pay close attention to pre-harvest intervals (PHI) on your fungicide labels. Some products have a PHI of 21 days or more. — Aaron Giese
I am seeing a large increase in cocklebur in the area. In most cases, soybean fields were generally clean with a pre-emerge herbicide and a mid-June clean up. Then the cocklebur emerged after the July 5th rains. Fields that were sprayed again after this look better. Corn fields that get sprayed with a one pass plan at V1 to V3 year after year will bring on higher populations of cocklebur too. They germinate later and residuals are not the most effective on this very large seed. — Adam Gibson
If you are still planning on another fungicide application on sugar beets, make sure you check the pre-harvest interval on the fungicide you are planning to use. Some have a 7 day pre-harvest interval, and others have 21 day. — Nathan DuHoux
Janesville, MN
This week is very similar to last week. We are seeing a very slow uptick in aphids. Continue to be scouting your fields. Pay close attention to fields along ditches and woods. — Cody Dobberstein
LeRoy, MN
While doing some scouting in the corn and soybean fields, I have started to see a lot of disease pressure coming on in the last few weeks. Be sure that you are out in your fields and scouting for what diseases you have and the level of pressure on your own farm. Things to note when you are scouting is correctly identifying what diseases you have, if it is variety specific, if any management decisions may have played a role, and most importantly how you are going to plan for things next year. — Katie Ristau
Marshall, MN
I have noticed this year that the aphid population has shown up a lot later than years past. One thing I am seeing is the aphids are a lot lower on the plant. A lot more aphids are sitting on pods. If you are out scouting, look lower on the plant. Cobalt Advanced is the best choice for quick kill plus residual. — Dave Timmerman
Olivia, MN
Many Liberty Link soybean fields are looking good. They also have good crop canopy and are free of weeds. This would be a good week to check your soybeans daily for aphids as well. — Aaron Spronk
The cercospora pressure in the sugar beets is heavy this year. Be sure to stay on top of your fungicide applications and do not stretch the recommended spray intervals, if you do disease will have a chance to set in and reduce tonnage and sugar content. — John Scheibel
Ulen, MN
Aphid numbers overall continue to remain low; however, pressure can vary from area to area so checking each field is essential. If you find increasing aphid pressure, Kendo at 3.2 oz is a very economical option. — Beau Matson
Winthrop, MN
It looks like aphids are popping up in nearby fields. Numbers are pretty variable. Just keep scouting your fields and when you get to 50 aphids per plant, it would be a good time to spray. — Tyler Gasow
MISSOURI
Bertrand, MO
There are a lot of soybeans at the R5 stage in our area on the mid to late group four varieties right now. Corn in the area is pretty much done and harvest will begin in two to three weeks for many farmers. — Albert Duenne
Hayti, MO
Target spot is a soil borne disease affecting many cotton acres in Missouri, Tennessee, and Arkansas. This disease prematurely defoliates cotton and can reduce yields significantly. Early season use of fungicide was a wise investment. If not, cotton fields in our area need to be scouted and cotton fungicide should be sprayed. Priaxor 4 oz is being used in fields where target spot has been identified. When spraying, 20 gallons of water should be used to ensure full coverage of the cotton plant. — Danny Stevens
MONTANA
Great Falls, MT
Wheat streak mosaic virus, wheat mosaic virus, and triticum mosaic virus are wheat curl mite-transmitted viruses found in Montana. The three viruses cannot be distinguished based on symptoms, but when multiple viruses are infecting one plant, symptoms can be more severe. Yield loss will depend on the virus species, virus strain, wheat variety, time of infection, and environmental conditions. The best method of control is avoiding the green bridge. Volunteers and grassy weeds must be completely dead in order to no longer serve as a pathogen source. This means an extended period is needed in order to break the green bridge. Eliminating the green bridge by destroying volunteer wheat and grassy weeds using herbicides or tillage during August (2-3 weeks prior to planting) is the most important control method. Remember to check rotation restrictions and always follow all labels. — Shawnea Ramer
If you are going to plant winter wheat this fall and have had or think you have had aluminum toxicity, get a soil test done. Excess aluminum stunts plant roots and decreases nutrient uptake, most notably phosphorus and sulfur uptake. Aluminum toxicity usually occurs in soil pH below 6.0 and gets worse as your pH drops even lower. If the topsoil has excess aluminum, use a lime application. If the subsoil has excess aluminum, use gypsum. Gypsum leaches down more readily to reach your subsoil. Note that it could take 18 months to see the results. — Joe Ramer
Sidney, MT
Small grain and pulse crop harvest is well underway. Using a stored grain insecticide like Diacon D is important in controlling the insects that come about in grain storage. With hot temperatures during harvest, this is a great environment for insects to migrate to the stored grain. — Chet Hill
NEBRASKA
Laurel, NE
Be looking for corn earworm and Western bean cutworm in your cornfields. There have been a number of fields infested in the last few days. — Kody Urwiler
Keep scouting your soybeans if you haven’t sprayed any insecticide. There’s a fair amount of feeding going on in some fields from grasshopper, bean leaf beetles, and worms. The aphid populations still seem pretty spotty. If you have a field with all these pests in it even at lower counts it could still justify an insecticide treatment. — Rusty Reifenrath
West Point, NE
Make sure to be out scouting your fields this week checking for new insects or diseases present. If you applied a fungicide/ insecticide, make sure to check control of the application. — Jared Steffensmeier
NORTH DAKOTA
Hillsboro, ND
Make sure you’re still scouting your soybeans for insects. Pod fill is a crucial time for soybeans and insect pressure can be damaging, especially if aphids or spider mites start multiplying. — Brian Josewski
Hurdsfield, ND
If your small grains are headed home into a bin, think about adding Diacon. Diacon is an affordable and easy to apply insecticide that lasts 18 months. This is a longer residual than Malathion. Also if mills detect Malathion they can reject the grain; this is not an issue with Diacon. No license is needed to purchase or apply. — Emily Kline
Lisbon, ND
Most of the wheat in the area has been harvested and cover crops are being seeded on those acres. When choosing what to plant, consider blending at least 3 different crops to achieve the optimum soil benefit. — Spencer Schultz
Mohall, ND
For pre-harvest burndown on Liberty Link canola use Roundup at 32 oz per acre with 8.5 lbs AMS per 100 gal water. Make sure canola is physiologically mature with 30% or less moisture. Spraying PowerMAX or RT3 for pre-harvest requires a supplemental label, which was just renewed by Monsanto. — Wyatt Thompson and Madison Southam
Pembina, ND
Roundup has been applied to wheat now for 10-15 days in most places here in Pembina County, North Dakota. Some of the fields are still very wet and might be wet still when it comes time to combine. Some growers are holding off spraying to let ground conditions improve. Wheat killed with Roundup gets very dry and the straw weakens, reducing its ability to stand. Strong winds or heavy rain can flatten a field, making it very difficult to combine. Also the wheat will begin to shell out. Keep an eye on your field conditions this fall and try to put as much harvested wheat in your bin as possible. — Shane Carrier
Webster, ND
We have had a lot of rain in the area the last couple of weeks and wheat harvest has been moving very slow. The quality and quantity has been great though. Guys have been averaging in mid 60’s to high 70’s for yield and the protein has been right around 14. I wasn’t sure how the protein would be with all the rain we have been getting. Some canola has been swathed in the area. Soybeans look great. The top 1/4 of the plants are just starting to put on pods. Corn looks excellent for this area. The Hefty 76 day variety in the plot has 18 kernels around and 42 long. I am excited to see how it yields in the end. — Stephanie Stensgard
Wilton, ND
There is some moisture stress showing up in the soybeans; scout your fields to find the spots where you have poor drainage. Continue to scout for aphids, and now is a good time to be evaluating varieties for next year, both corn and beans. The corn is moving along nicely with most plants being brown silk and cobs starting to fill. Very nice corn and bean crop coming in the area. — Jamie Schurhamer
SOUTH DAKOTA
Aberdeen, SD
If you are looking for a post-harvest burndown in your wheat stubble, Sharpen is a great option. Sharpen has no grass control so you may want to tank-mix in some glyphosate. — Tanner Johnson
Baltic, SD
If you are seeing a high number of soybean aphids now and want a quick knockdown, add an organophosphate like Lorsban to your pyrethroid. This combo will give you quick knockdown plus some residual. — Lee Fischer
Centerville, SD
We have had some reports of spider mites in the area. Spider mites like dry, warm weather so conditions in our area have been ideal. To control spider mites, use 10.3oz/acre of Hero insecticide. Also consider foliar nutrients or a fungicide for the soybeans when making this application. — Travis Petty
Freeman, SD
Some of the corn pre’s aren’t holding in spots due to all of the earlier rains or the pre’s just might be running out of gas. A lot of the corn is at brown silks now, so spraying with drop nozzles could be an option. Using LV6 Ester at 1-2 pints per acre could be the answer in helping clean up some of the broadleaf weeds that slipped through. — Josh Horstman
Gettysburg, SD
Use copper sulfate in your water tanks to prevent algae from plugging strainers and tips on the sprayer. — Colby Kaup
If your wheat stubble is greening up, apply Distinct at 3-4 oz per acre or an LV6 plus Banvel mix. — Kyle Hawkinson
Huron, SD
Grasshoppers are clipping pods on soybeans, primarily field borders. For more efficient/quicker knockdown of mature grasshoppers, use chlorpyrifos chemistry (i.e. Lorsban) at the 16 oz/acre rate. — Alan Williams
Kimball, SD
You should be out scouting for aphids along with checking to see if there are still grasshoppers invading your fields. — Jordan HighElk
New Underwood, SD
To help along those later planted sunflowers, think about putting a fungicide out when applying an insecticide. Priaxor at 4 oz will give you great plant health along with added pounds of flowers at harvest time. — Tyler Price
Roscoe, SD
If you are going to be doing some fall spraying in your pastures, consider using GrazonNext HL at 24 oz/acre with 1 quart NIS/100 gallons. If your targeted species include brush control you can add 10 oz/acre of Tordon 22K or switch to Chaparral at 3.3 oz/acre with 1 quart NIS/100 gallons. — Eric Butz
Watertown, SD
I would recommend you keep scouting for aphids. There hasn’t been much for bugs around, but they can pop up fairly fast. If you do need to spray keep in mind that insecticides are a lot cheaper than past years. You can do 3.2 oz of Kendo or 1 pt of Nufos for $2 to $4. — Jack Beutler
We have been hearing of some bugs around the area. If you do spot aphids, a pyrethroid will take care of the problem. You can get a product like that for under $3 per acre. — Beau Wensing
WASHINGTON
Farmington, WA
Harvest is underway and not much other activity is happening right now. — Jamie Rovey
Quincy, WA
Mites in corn are starting to pop up. Oberon 4 SC up to 8 oz/acre with a sulfur and spreader has really good results. — Danny Hopkins
