Latest News Briefs

June 11, 2008
Now What Can We Expect?
With the very wet and stormy weather we have experienced this spring, it is difficult what to expect next. There are many important issues that can be addressed. The recent heavy rains and flooding of streams and rivers has many producers faced with tough decisions that need to be made. More

June 03, 2008
Watch Out For Those Pests
Summer is just around the corner and following a very unpredictable spring it is difficult to determine what type of pests we may have this year. This time of year it is important to keep an eye on trees, shrubs and ornamentals because now they may become infested with different types of pests. With the hot days of summer coming up, it is important to monitor the health of your trees and other landscape plants to reduce the impact the environment has on them. More

May 29, 2008
Sericea Lespedeza – A Noxious Weed!
The past couple of years we have been alerting you about the introduction of an invasive plant to southeast Nebraska. With farmers now identifying this plant, they are now working to control it before it gets a foothold here in Nebraska. The troublesome weed that is making its appearance in southeastern Nebraska is sericea lespedeza. It has been identified on several locations in southeastern Nebraska. This plant has been identified on CRP land, along highways and in roadside ditches, in several pastures and even on some acreages. This is a perennial legume that is a noxious weed in Kansas and has taken over in several areas of Missouri as well. Sericea lespedeza was planted by some government agencies as cover and feed for wildlife and also for erosion control. Unfortunately it is a very invasive species and has taken over thousands of acres of rangeland in Kansas and a lot of public land and roadsides in Missouri. More

May 22, 2008
Watch Out For Those Bagworms
The last couple of years we have had a major infestation of bagworms in the area. While it is still very early and several weeks away from bagworm emergence, you need to be aware of the potential problem and watch out for it. The last two years, the larvae emerged over several weeks during the summer. We had some late hatches and bagworms were causing problems in July. It will be important to keep an eye on your evergreen trees this year and watch for infestations of bagworms. More

May 13, 2008
What About Fungicides on Wheat?
Unlike last year, wheat is getting wheat off to a slow start due to the slow warmup this spring. While there is some winterkill, in general wheat is in good shape. With warmer temperatures and significant rainfall, it should take off. With all the rain and damp weather this spring, one question that may arise if your wheat is doing well is, “What about fungicides to reduce diseases in your wheat?” More

May 09, 2008
Proline Fungicide Available For Wheat Scab
With wheat prices hovering around $8.00 per bushel, management practices that will help maintain wheat yields and wheat quality are critical in 2008. Last year the weather was conducive to significant disease infection in southeast Nebraska. With good prices in 2007, several producers decided to treat wheat fields with fungicides. Wheat rust was a problem, especially for some susceptible varieties. Farmers that used fungicides on wheat varieties susceptible to rust saw a significant yield increase, (20 bu/ac) compared to similar untreated wheat varieties. Due to the wet conditions we experienced last spring, there were a number of fields of wheat that were infected with wheat scab (Fusarium head blight). Unfortunately we did not have any effective wheat fungicides available to treat for wheat scab in 2007. This decreased yields and wheat quality significantly in infected fields. More

May 01, 2008
What About No-Till?
With today’s high production costs and fuel prices, no-till may be a system worth pursuing just from the stand point of fuel costs. Diesel prices are extremely volatile and have gone up cents a day or more. I spoke to a fuel supplier this week and the cash price for diesel delivered to the farm was $3.799. If a farmer disks his corn stalks in the fall, again in the spring and then field cultivates, these three trips over the field would use approximately 1.3-1.74 gallons of fuel per acre. At a cost of $3.80 per gallon of diesel fuel, this would cost from $4.94-$6.61 per acre. Some farmers shred stalks, chisel plow and/or rip their fields periodically as well. These operations require more fuel yet. It would add up to significant savings in fuel and in time if soybeans were no-till planted into corn stalks. More

May 01, 2008
Plant Soybeans Early
With the wet weather we have been having, you probably think you will be lucky if soybeans are planted by the middle of May. Research shows you may want to consider planting soybeans earlier, before you are done planting corn. Research funded by the Nebraska Soybean Board and conducted at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) indicates soybean yields decrease when planting is delayed after May 1st. This research was conducted at the research farm at UNL’s East Campus in 2003 and 2004. Results of this study show a yield decline can range from (0.25) bu/ac to (0.625) bu/ac for each day planting is delayed after May 1st. More

May 01, 2008
Can We Save Money On Soybean Seed?
With the cost of Roundup Ready soybean seed increasing, the cost of seed will be a significant input for soybean farmers. While the trend appears to be for increase seeding rates for corn, what about soybeans? In previous articles in 2006 and 2007, I reported local observations on area farms in southeast Nebraska and on-farm research in Nebraska have indicated lower soybean populations may be comparable in yield to higher plant populations that have been used for several years. More

April 10, 2008
Tonando Season is Here
With the damage the ice storm caused to several trees last winter, the last thing you want to hear is that tornado season is here. Unfortunately it is, and actually it is Severe Weather Awareness Week in Nebraska, April 7 – 11th. It has been a very active tornado and severe storm season all of 2008. There have been several tornadoes and torrential rains throughout the United States this year. Several meteorologists are predicting an active severe storm season in Nebraska in 2008. We have actually had tornadoes in Nebraska in December before, so the important thing is to always be aware of the dangers of tornadoes. More

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