Category Archives: Corn Growers

JenREES 8/6/23

Ag Hall medal winners from the 2023 York County Fair.

Thank you to everyone who made the 150^th York County Fair a success! It was a fun fair celebrating the 150th with displays of previous exhibitors and fairs through the years, special events like alumni showmanship, ice cream, and the special awards. These milestones are quite a legacy and perhaps the current 4-H/FFA youth will be able to celebrate 200 years one day? Wishing everyone the best with the Seward County Fair this week as well! This week sharing on some upcoming events in August.

Cover Crop & Soil Health Field Day will be held Aug. 9^th from 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m at the 4-H Building in York followed by field tours at Bob Bettger’s farm. Topics include: Progressive cover cropping in a corn an soybean rotation; exploring perennial cover crops in a corn and soybean rotation; presentation from The Nature Conservancy; full season cover crops for row crop acres; and assessing soil health on your own (which is part of the field tour). The event is free, but please RSVP for the meal to Nate Pflueger with Pheasants Forever at 402-646-5426.

Soybean Management Field Days will be held this week: Aug. 8 near Rockville, Aug. 9 near Concord, Aug. 10 near Mead, and Aug. 11 near DeWitt. This year is 25 years of SMFD with topics including sprayer cleanout and setup; disease and insect management; cover crops and soil health; irrigation & technology; and grain markets. The event is free thanks to the Nebraska Soybean Board but please RSVP for meal count to https://enreec.unl.edu/soydays or to 402-441-3240.

Soil Health and Cover Crop Field Day will be held Aug 22 at Eastern NE R&E Center near Mead from 9 a.m.-2:50 p.m. (Reg. 8:30). The field day is co-sponsored by UNL and Cargill with topics on assessing soil health and summer cover crops. Equipment demonstrations will include a Highboy interseeder and roller crimper in the field followed by a tour of the UNL biochar study. No charge. More info. and RSVP for meal at: https://go.unl.edu/bosp.

Southeast NE Alfalfa & Wheat Expo will be held Aug. 24 from 8:45 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (Reg. 8 a.m.) in Crete. The morning topics are focused on wheat while the afternoon ones are focused on alfalfa. Wheat topics include: UNL breeding program, seed treatments, wheat production, round table discussion. Alfalfa topics include: variety selection and planting dates, insect management, alfalfa as protein supplement in fall. More info. at: https://croptechcafe.org/alfalfawheatexpo/.

Corn and Soybean Clinics will be held Aug. 29 in North Platte and Aug. 31 at ENREEC near Mead from 9:30-3:20 p.m. (Reg. 9 a.m.). The clinics are designed to walk through the growing season addressing critical agronomic developmental events in corn and soybeans in addition to diseases, weeds, insects, nutrients, and irrigation management while being out in the field. 4.5 CCA credits are available. More info. and RSVP: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/enreec/nebraska-corn-soybean-clinic/

Hamilton Co. Corn Growers will have their plot tour on Aug. 28^th at 5 p.m. near Giltner (1/4 North of Rd 6 and J). A meal sponsored by Bayer Crop Sciences will follow at 6 p.m. at the Giltner Community Center. Featured speakers are Chuck Woodside, CEO KAAPA Ethanol with updates from Nebraska Corn and Hamilton Co. FSA.

York Co. Corn Grower plot tour and annual banquet will be held on Tuesday, August 29^th beginning at 6 p.m. at Stone Creek Event Center in McCool Junction. Please save the date and plan to attend as we combine our plot tour with the annual banquet! Everything will be held at Stone Creek. At 6 p.m., seed reps will share on the hybrid entries they submitted in the plot followed by a social time at 6:30 p.m. and prime rib meal and program at 7 p.m. Cost is $15 for the meal. Please RSVP to York Co. Extension (402) 362-5508 or any York Co. Corn Grower director.

Posted in Corn Growers, Event, JenREES Columns

JenREES 8/15/22

Aug 15

Posted by jenreesources

With every development stage this replant corn crop achieves, I’m grateful! Many fields will hopefully begin pollination soon. Late-planted crops can have quite a bit of disease and insect pressure develop late. Would encourage you to wait and treat fields when needed instead of automatically at beginning tassel.

Last irrigation: (days listed are based on GDUs, so consider this for your crop growth stage and field soil moisture levels so you can start tapering off). This tool helps you calculate potential black layer date based on your planting date and relative maturity: https://mygeohub.org/groups/u2u/purdue_gdd. What I’m currently seeing is that 2022 is around 70 GDD higher for York than the 30 year average and is tracking pretty similarly to 2012.

Corn at Dough needs 7.5” (approximately 34 days to maturity)
Corn at Beginning Dent needs 5” of water (approximately 24 days to maturity)
Corn at ¼ milk needs 3.75” (approximately 19 days to maturity)
Corn at ½ milk (Full Dent) needs 2.25” (approximately 13 days to maturity)
Soybean at beginning seed (R5) needs around 6.5” (approx. 29 days to maturity)
Soybean at full seed (R6) needs 3.5” (approx. 18 days to maturity)
Soybean with leaves beginning to yellow (R6.5) needs 1.9” (approx. 10 days to maturity)

I share that yet acknowledge what I’ve heard in the weariness of irrigating and the temptation to quit early. My guess is there’s many feeling this way…and it seems especially long to those who have replant crops. Ultimately would just encourage you to finish strong!

Verbal Land Lease Agreements: Have received a few questions on timing to notify of terminating a verbal land lease; that date is Sept. 1 for Nebraska. I have searched and am unaware of a good template for this notification. The verbal lease date doesn’t apply to written leases as dates should be specified within them. Templates for written leases can be found at: https://aglease101.org/doclib/.

Renovating Lawns in the Fall: August 15-September 15 are the best times to seed cool season grasses. Improving Turf in the Fall at https://go.unl.edu/rz9z is a great resource to walk you through renovation depending on your situation. Some lawns can be easily improved by adding fall fertilizer.

Sarah Browning, Extension Horticultural Educator shares, “Late summer or fall fertilization of Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue lawns is the most important time to fertilize these cool season grasses. Fertilizer promotes recovery from summer stress, increases density of thinned turf, encourages root and rhizome growth, and allows the plant to store food for next spring’s growth flush. Lawns that are 10-15 or more years old typically need only two fertilizer applications a year. Make the fall application in late August or early September. On younger lawns, two fertilizer applications during fall are recommended. Make the first one in late August/early September, and the second in mid-late October.”

If overseeding is needed to fill in thinned areas but more than 50% of good turf remains, mow the existing grass 2.5” tall to make the soil prep easier. For lawns needing total renovation, start with a glyphosate (Roundup application) followed by waiting at least 7-10 days to kill the lawn. Mow dead vegetation as short as mower goes to then aerate the lawn three times. Full seeding rate for tall fescue is 6-8 lbs./1,000 sq.ft., and 2-3 lbs. for Kentucky bluegrass. When overseeding into an existing lawn, the seeding rate can be cut in half. Drilling the seed is perhaps best, otherwise, use a drop seeder. Seed half the seed north/south and the other half east/west for even distribution. Then lightly rake to ensure seed to soil contact.

Example of using the GDD U2U tool (https://mygeohub.org/groups/u2u/purdue_gdd). Input your zip code or select your county. Then add your planting date and relative maturity to view a prediction for black layer and first 28F frost based on 30 year weather data. The tool is also showing that 2022 is above the 30 year GDD average. Right now it’s about 70 units higher in York and is predicted to continue on a higher trend as the season progresses. Selecting a comparison year (I chose 2012), it shows 2022 is tracking very similarly for the time being.

Posted in Corn Growers, JenREES Columns, Lawns

JenREES 10/17/21

Oct 17

Posted by jenreesources

The York County Corn Grower plot and several on-farm research studies were harvested this past week. Thank you to Ron and Brad Makovicka for planting, harvesting, and hosting the corn grower plot and to all the seed companies who participated! The plot averaged 277 bu/ac on 190 lbs N of fall applied anhydrous and 3 gal of starter. That’s a great nitrogen efficiency per bushel produced! You can view the results at jenreesources.com or can pick up a hard copy of the results at the York Co. Extension Office.

I also wish to thank all of the cooperators who participate in Nebraska Extension’s On-Farm Research Network, especially all of you who work with me! The farmers conducting studies in this part of the State account for nearly 1/3 of the studies being conducted state-wide! A number of previous years’ results in addition to this year are studies involving nitrogen management. I will share more specific study results in the future. For now, with nitrogen prices continuing to climb, sharing ideas for consideration to try on your farms.

Nitrogen Timing: Fall vs. Spring Anhydrous OR Combination of pre-plant nitrogen plus in-season nitrogen. We have one continuous fall vs. spring applied anhydrous study in York Co. and I’ve summarized results of several split applied studies in the past. It’d be great to have more producers trying these types of studies.
Nitrogen Rate: 50 lbs N +/- grower rate. For example, consider: 100, 150, 200 lbs N/ac comparisons or 130, 180, 230 lbs N/ac comparisons. Growers doing these studies continue to find minimal yield gain for more N (less than 5 bu/ac for increasing 50 lbs N/ac). This year is a great one to try this for yourself with the high N prices.
Nitrogen product substitute: There’s a number of products that are in some way promoted for reducing nitrogen, either by the product using microbes to help “fix N” for corn or using microbes to make N more available. So, consider trying a product like those and reduce the nitrogen by a set rate (30-50 lbs/ac) vs. a control with full N rate without the product. We do have a few studies in 2021 with these products and will share those results this winter.
Reducing plant population under irrigated system using a strong flex hybrid. A handful of guys I know have tried this and have determined the population that gives them the best economic return for reduced nitrogen and water inputs. Some have also considered strong non-irrigated hybrids under pivots to reduce water and nitrogen inputs.
Planting another crop: I have heard several saying they plan to plant more soybeans. A number of growers have also increased interest in milo (grain sorghum) due to the lower inputs necessary.
For those who own land (perhaps easier with a pivot depending on where you are in the State) and have cattle, perhaps consider the economics of annual forages for your particular operation.
Growing nitrogen via interseeding cover crops or planting corn into terminated vetch or solid stand of red (or white?) clover. I realize this one is more outside of the box and there’s a lot of questions surrounding it. The past few years, especially 2021, provided opportunity for numerous observations and learning experiences from growers trying these things. I just need time to summarize and will share this winter.

I know most producers are trying things on your own on your farms. The above are just some additional ideas for consideration and an opportunity to try via on-farm research to obtain more data. I will share specific protocols next week. The data helps inform all of us on practices/products that are research-proven in Nebraska.

Tar Spot of corn was found in York County via a sample submitted by Jon Propheter last week. Nothing to worry about this season. It can be easily confused with southern rust teliospores this time of year. Will share more on management this winter.

(Phtotos below: left-hand photo is tar spot, one lesion, very low incidence. Doesn’t scrape off leaf. Right-hand photo is southern rust teliospores; you can see the raised pustules looking closely in the photo and can rub them off.)

BugFest 2021 is now open at https://go.unl.edu/bugfest2021 till Oct. 24! There are videos about Nebraska Tiger Beetles, Wild Bees, Bed Bugs, Magical Creatures, How to Draw Insects, and much more.

Young, Beginning and Small Farmers Symposium November 8: Through a series of fast-paced panel discussions, participants will co-create innovative solutions regarding: Challenges facing young, beginning and small farming operations; Existing programs for financing young, beginning and small farmers; Innovative resource approaches for the farm of the future. This program will be held from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (registration at 8:30 a.m.) at the Nebraska East Union on UNL East Campus in Lincoln. It will also be streamed live online. Those wishing to attend in person need to register and request a parking permit. There is no cost. Additional details at: https://go.unl.edu/hzcj.