It’s fair time!!! Hope to see you at the York County Fair this week from Aug. 1-4 and the Seward County Fair next week Aug. 8-11.

For field updates, southern rust was found in a number of counties last week at low incidence. I’m able to find it a low levels in every field I walk into right now but incidence is so low that I still haven’t been recommending to spray. We’ve been seeing southern in lower portions of canopies in fields that have already been sprayed because the product didn’t penetrate that deep into the canopy. The updated map is at: https://corn.ipmpipe.org/southerncornrust/. Depending on when you read this, Seward does need to be filled in because we have confirmed it in Seward Co. too.

South Central Ag Lab (SCAL) Field Days on Aug. 8^th near Harvard will begin with registration at 8:30 a.m. and the program at 8:45 a.m. Tours can be selected depending on what the attendees are most interested in. A special demonstration will provide the opportunity to see real-time, camera-based weed detection technology with the John Deere See and Spray. Topics and presenters include: Irrigation Management Technologies with Saleh Taghvaeian and Steve Melvin; Corn and Soy Disease Management with Tamra Jackson-Ziems and Dylan Mangel; Weed Management focused on Planting Green and Intercropping by Amit Jhala; Nitrogen/Fertigation Management with Katie Bathke and Joe Luck; and Insect Management and conservation features with Matheus Ribeiro and Ron Seymour. The lunch keynote speaker will be Dr. J. David Aiken, water and agricultural law specialist, sharing on “Carbon Market Considerations for Farmers”. SCAL is located at 851 Hwy. 6, near Harvard. There is no cost and RSVP is requested for planning purposes to (402) 762-3536 or https://go.unl.edu/scalfieldday. CCA credits are pending.

Soil Health Field Day will be held Aug. 8^th at the 4-H Building in York from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (Reg. at 9:30 a.m.). Topics include: Making winter wheat a success by Nathan Mueller; Soil health and summer annual cover crops by Katja Koehler-Cole; Protecting your bottom line with resilient cropping systems by Nick Arneson; Cover crop options that help game birds by Nate Pflueger; What we’ve learned so far about compost extracts by Jenny Rees; followed by a cover crop field site visit. 2.5 soil/water CEUs are available. No charge but please RSVP to 402-646-5426 for meal count.

Soybean Management Field Days are following a different format this year. The local field site for our area will be at Scott Richert’s field in the Ulysses/Gresham area on Aug. 15^th from 6-8 p.m. (reg. at 5:30 p.m.). Scott planted soybeans green into rye and then roller crimped the rye after soybean emergence. This practice has aided in reducing palmer and white mold in his fields. This location will feature his on-farm research seed treatment study where he’s comparing the seed company’s full seed treatment vs. his biological seed treatment vs. an inoculated treatment vs. untreated check. I’m really looking forward to this format of showcasing the farmers and their research and topics of relevance to our local area. Other evening locations include Holdrege on Aug. 13 and Neligh on Aug. 14. Another option will be Aug. 16 at ENREEC near Mead with program from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (Reg. 10 a.m.). That location will focus more on the TAPS soybean plots, Ag Olympics, and soybean gall midge research plot tours. There’s no charge thanks to sponsorship by the Nebraska Soybean Board, but please RSVP for planning purposes to 402-624-8030 or https://enreec.unl.edu/soydays.