This week sharing on a variety of questions received. Also a reminder of our On-Farm Research Update meeting on Feb. 17 with closest one in York at Cornerstone Event Center at 9 a.m. (registration at 8:30 a.m.). It’s an opportunity to hear from the growers about their on-farm research studies. RSVP at 402-362-5508 or jrees2@unl.edu.

Nitrogen Models: Follow-up to last week’s column, for those interested in comparing a nitrogen model to your grower rate via on-farm research this year, please let your Granular certified service agent or Adapt N rep know in addition to your local Extension educator. We’ll set up a meeting to discuss study design for the prescriptions.

Temperature effects on storage of pesticides: With pesticide shortages and people wanting to get the products in hand, received a question on what happens if the product freezes in non-heated shops. Ultimately, the pesticide label will specify any impacts to efficacy when extreme temperature conditions occur. Another resource that may be of interest is this University of Missouri website which has a table towards the bottom which allows you to scroll through various fungicide, insecticide, herbicide products and see what the label shares: https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/g1921.

Spring planted cover crops: During our practical cover crop management discussion last Friday, we talked about oats and other small grains being known to help reduce the incidence and severity of soil-borne soybean disease pathogens causing sudden death syndrome and soybean cyst nematode in soybean. We also know small grains help with reduction in white mold with the hypothesis being the terminated cover helps intercept the spores being released from the soil surface into the canopy. The question was asked if oats planted this spring could also help if a small grain wasn’t planted in the fall. Research from University of Minnesota found spring planted oats did help with reducing SDS severity, so that could be a consideration as another tool to help.

Another question/discussion topic that continues to surface is if there’s ability to grow nitrogen prior to corn this spring. Potentially, if one thinks about herbicides differently, gets plans together now, and is willing to terminate the cover crop a little later. And, maybe one just tries some strips of this instead of whole fields? Nitrogen production is directly related to biomass growth and based on what I see in journal articles, nutrient release from cover crops occurs around 6 weeks after termination. Options for planting in March include peas, lentils, clovers. These can be terminated by herbicides or as a green manure. I’m unsure on rolling. For those who planted hairy vetch last fall, a York county producer shared that he’s had good luck using glyphosate as a burndown which kills any grasses but leaves the vetch. That allowed the vetch to keep growing to produce more biomass and thus, more nitrogen. He kills the vetch with his post-pass as HPPD chemistries (Callisto, etc.) will kill it. There’s also a few guys kicking around the idea of planting corn into a living mulch like clover. University of Wisconsin did research on kura clover but in talking with Keith Berns with Green Cover Seed, seed production is difficult so it’s hard to get that seed. Some producers in Europe have a system kind of like our on-farm research network, and are using white clover before wheat and then grazing sheep in their system. It would be interesting to try some of the clover crosses available locally or even try with red clover and see what happens in small areas of fields. If anyone is interested in trying something like this, please let me know. We’ll probably discuss more this Friday, so if you’re interested in our Practical Cover Crop Management discussion of Feb. 18 on Interseeding cover crops from 10-Noon in 4-H bldg. in York, please RSVP at 402-362-5508 or jrees2@unl.edu. The Nature Conservancy is providing lunch for that meeting for anyone who RSVPs to allow the discussion to continue over lunch.