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07/21/2010 11:10 AM
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Busy time
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We have been very busy that last few weeks. With corn pollination, fungicide applications, root digs, wheat harvest and normal data collection. We planted our last soybean plots on July 2. This is very late but the very wet June kept delaying planting. Winter wheat had lower than normal yields. Yields were in the mid 50 bushel/A range. Our rootworm pressure has been intense with many of our checks having 3's on the Iowa State scale (3 nodes eaten by the rootworms). The heavy rains may have decreased late feeding. Gray leaf spot is very common with infestations moving to the ear leaf in many cases. Overall crop condition is good with corn and soybean moving to R-3 in many cases. The rain keeps coming combined with warm conditions to excelerate the maturity of the crop.
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06/24/2010 11:21 AM
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Heavy rain, rapid growth and rootworm beetles
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A good crop year turned marginal after a 5 inch rain on June 22. We have received over 10 inches of rain in the last 12 days. Nitrogen deficiency and poor growth is evident in poorly drained areas. Where drainage is good, corn and beans are growing rapidly. We are starting to see some disease (gray leaf spot). The corn rootworm larva have been busy feeding in our trap crop area. The untreated corn in the trap crop is barely standing due to heavy feeding. I did find several adult rootworm beetles.
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06/15/2010 04:07 PM
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It keeps on getting wetter- crops look good
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The wet weather keeps on coming. We have had over 3 inches in the last 4 days. Corn is looking good and growing fast. Most is now approaching the V-8 stage. There is some minor water damage on some beans. The hardest part about the wet weather is getting field work done in such wet conditions. Soybeans are near the V-3 stage. Wheat is rapidly turning color.
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06/02/2010 07:42 AM
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It is raining again
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We had a good week last week which allowed us to get the majority of our regulated trials planted. Rain is really coming down this morning combined with the rain we had over the weekend to really slow progress. The wet weather combined with the warm temperatures has really turned on the growth and development of crops. Corn put on about two leaves in 4-5 days. Night temperatures have been impressive which really helps to quickly develop the crop. We need some dry conditions to get into the field to spray some post corn herbicides. Soybeans and corn that were planted last week came out of the ground in about 6 days. Overall weed growth is good and we are looking for the first lightning bugs which is a good indicator of corn rootworm hatch.
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05/19/2010 10:41 AM
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cool wet weather slows progress
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Cool and rainy conditions have slowed crop development and planting progress. Most commercial corn looks good and is stuck at the V-1 to V-2 stage. Corn that we planted on 4/12/10 is at V-3 stage. Early planted soybeans have emerged but are moving slowly. We have planted our processing tomato trials. A major temperature increase is predicted for next week. This morning we decided that it was still too wet just to do stand counts.
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05/11/2010 10:53 AM
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A wet period begins
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After four good weeks of planting, our weather has turned wet. This past weekend we had a moderate frost with cool temps slowing crop growth. We have put in most of our efficacy corn and soybeans. The early planted corn looks very good. Weed growth is starting to pick up. Some minor cut worm damage has been detected.
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05/03/2010 02:33 PM
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Third week of corn planting- good progress
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We completed our third week of corn planting. Overall progress was good and a half inch of rain over the weekend helped. Early reports called for 2-4 inches but it never happened. April 12-19 planted corn has now emerged and is looking good. A moderate frost on 4/25 had little impact on the emerged corn. The warm rain over the weekend really is helping weed emergence.
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04/23/2010 03:29 PM
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Another good week, but we could use some rain
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We had another good week of corn planting. Temperatures were more normal with highs in the 60s and low 70's. The corn we planted on April 12 has still not emerged. Weed emergence is low, since we had several light frosts early in the week. Weeds are also slow to emerge due to the dry conditions. Commercial corn is really going into the ground with many farmers completed their corn planting and moving to soybeans. Some are have almost finished with beans. The bean planting is very early. We could still catch an early May frost that would be very tough on soybeans. We used our new Almaco plot planter for the first time this week and it worked well.
Thanks
Fritz
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04/16/2010 09:30 AM
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A good first week of corn planting
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We have been blessed with a really good first week of corn planting. It has been a very unsual year with spring temps being about 10-20 degrees above normal. Soil temps were in the 60 F range, which is not normal. Last year our first corn was planted on April 26 and then got 6 inches of rain on it. We planted most of our 09 corn at the end of May. We feel that early planting with these warm conditions, is not very risky. I would guess emergence will happen with 12-14 days of planting. We could use 0.5 inches of rain to get some soil applied herbicide mobolized. Our new crumbler that we are using behind our field cultivator also worked very well.
Thanks Fritz
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04/06/2010 12:25 PM
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Clean Equipment
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Thanks to Michael, who spent the morning with a power washer, we now have clean equipment. We are nearly ready to go. Everything has been serviced and we are working on finishing touches.
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04/06/2010 12:01 PM
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"Planting" 1st Research Trial of 2010
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Spring has finally arrived and we were able to "plant" our 1st research trial of the 2010 season. These are micro-plots where the crop is grown in a small containers, in this case 24in x 3 ft vertical field tile. We buried the tile on Good Friday and plan on letting the soil settle a couple of weeks before planting.
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03/23/2010 09:22 AM
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Planter Update
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We have now joined the ranks of those who own plot planters. We have added a 4 row, mounted planter with all the "bells and whistles". We hope this purchase will make us more efficient as well as give us another option for bulk planting. This unit is equipped with belted cones and Kinzie seed box units that can be interchanged as needed.
Now all we need to do is figure out how to run it. We noticed that the buddy seats came with seat belt, but have not figured out the air bags.
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03/16/2010 03:53 PM
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AG Services Technology Update
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We are now using technology from the web in new ways to benefit our web presence. Look for frequent updates to our website from this page and the latest news on crop conditions, etc.
Jared Alsdorf
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