Category Archives: Drought
JenResources 5/11/25
Drought: While it’s sometimes difficult to write a column each week, the record of information on my blog through the years has been of help to me. I was thinking about this spring…how the rye and pastures weren’t growing, and now how the rye and wheat went to head in non-irrigated ground weeks earlier than normal. Why are they heading so early this year? I think it’s because we’ve had such warm soil temperatures coupled with low surface and subsoil moisture in non-irrigated fields. I think the plants are stressed and went into reproductive mode.
I’m concerned that pastures will also be short and head out early too. It’s good to be prepared in the event that livestock producers need additional forage. In mid-April, a Drought Preparation Webinar was held and the recording can be found here: https://go.unl.edu/2025_drought_prep_webinar. There’s also a recent CropWatch article by Aaron Berger, Livestock Educator, sharing the economic tradeoffs of grazing wheat vs. taking it for grain for those with non-irrigated acres that are drought stressed or dealing with virus diseases. You can find the full article here: https://go.unl.edu/mrny.
I know irrigating crops like what is occurring is reminiscent of 2023 in watering crops up and activating herbicide. No one wants the irrigation season to start this early. For curiosity, I pulled the Drought Monitor maps from this week in 2023, 2024, and 2025. 2023 is the year I think of most closely to 2025 so far, even though the drought monitor map in 2023 was much more severe than what 2025 shows. For a planting season, 2025 reminds me more of 2012 with how early everything went into the ground with a warm growing season and no cold snaps. The drought monitor map for the area of the state I serve is similar to 2024, but we also know that mid- to late-May rains changed conditions from dry to too wet in areas north and east of here. Curious as to what year(s) any of you would compare this year to?
Ultimately, we’re not in control of the weather. For the livestock producers in particular, it may be wise to have a forage plan in place in the event that forage resources run short for your operation.
Seed Swap: On a lighter note, we have some interesting on-farm research projects this year! One we’re calling a Seed Swap. This will be my 10th year with the York Co. Corn Grower plot. Any extra seed that we vacuum out of planter boxes is mixed together and planted out. While it’s not a part of the official plot, that area has always beaten the highest yielding number in the plot by 5-10 bu/ac. And, it may not always work this way, but a handful of others also commented they’ve seen something similar. One farmer who had hosted the plot in the past had the idea of trying this via on-farm research. A group of farmers also liked the idea and they all decided on a “seed swap” where they each contributed a hybrid to be mixed together. The mix is compared to each farmer’s hybrid(s) of choice. So in 2025, we’ll have non-GMO and GMO seed swap studies. There’s also a grower who wanted to try this with soybeans, so he has a study combining different maturity groups.
A 2009 study in Ohio compared 5 hybrids vs. mixes of the hybrids. “No significant difference was seen when comparing the yield of a mixed hybrid stand to the average of the two hybrids that were used in the mixed planting. However, there was an observed tendency for the mixed hybrid treatments to out yield their single hybrid counterparts by an average of 4.2 bushel per acre.”
I realize the concept perhaps goes against what many are trying to do with increasing uniformity in fields. My hypothesis in what we’ve seen in the corn grower plot is that the range of maturities (110-120 days) allowed to catch any stragglers for pollination, there was increased diversity in disease/insect packages in combination with more defensive and racehorse hybrids. For those interested in soil health, I also think there’s something to diversity of root structures resulting in more sharing of nutrients and different microbial associations with roots. Those are just hypotheses and we’ll share what we see for results next winter!
Dry September 2024
Dry Conditions: With the dry conditions, harvest has been rapidly progressing. Two weeks ago, soybeans had green stems with seeds that were drier than people thought. Last week, many were harvesting soybeans in the 7-8% range. For corn I’ve been hearing a lot of 13-15% moisture and a couple reports down to 11%, but still with good kernel depth and quality. There’s unfortunately nothing we can do about this other than prioritize which fields to harvest. We’re in a race against time and the low moisture is due to weather conditions and hybrid specificity.
I’ve never seen it so dry in September. Eric Hunt, Extension Meteorologist, showed that September 2024 was the driest September in Nebraska on record (132 years). He also shared there’s no relief in site moisture-wise with above-average temps till at least the latter half of the month.
The lack of relative humidity and precipitation, intense sunshine, higher temperatures, and wind have all led to the grain moisture loss we’re seeing (which can be as much as 0.8-1.0 percentage points/day). Dr. Bob Nielsen, Extension Emeritus Corn Specialist from Perdue shared, “It is not uncommon for grain moisture to decline more than one percentage point per day over a period of days when conditions are warm, sunny, windy and dry.” Research that he and others conducted back in the 90’s showed that when corn matures also impacts drydown rate. Corn that matured in late August had a daily average drydown rate of 0.8 percentage points per day while corn that matured in late September averaged 0.4 percentage points per day. The corn borer pressure on non-gmo hybrids and late season disease pressure on all hybrids also led to plants dying/maturing early.
Corn hybrid characteristics can also impact kernel moisture. Hybrids that have thinner or permeable pericarp layers (outermost layer of the corn kernel), are more subject to moisture loss and faster drying rates in the field. I’m unsure how one knows this characteristic though.
You can look for these other characteristics resulting in quicker drydown: lower husk leaf number and thinner husk leaf, how soon the husk leaf tissue turns brown, how well the husk covers the ear (less coverage allows for faster drying), how tight the husk is (as looser husks will increase moisture loss), and how fast the ear turns down vs. remaining upright.
Fire Conditions: With the dry conditions and low humidity, we have a high risk of fire potential. I’m grateful to Nebraska DOT for posting the fire danger on signs throughout the state as a reminder to those traveling. Hopefully that will help reduce cigarette fires. Please keep thinking safety including fire safety with harvest. Days like Saturday are days to take a break from the field. Have fire extinguishers with you and charged, disks at fields, blow out combines regularly. Roads are so dangerous with the dust; turn lights on when traveling in the daylight. Please be safe! Safety resources: Educational Resources | College of Public Health | University of Nebraska Medical Center (unmc.edu)
Cover Crops and Small Grains: With the dry conditions, I’ve heard of several semi loads of wheat returned and not planted in the southern counties I serve. It’s hard to know what to do, but if a small grain is part of one’s rotation (which I feel there’s many benefits of), I’d recommend to stay the course with planting the current rotation and evaluate the situation next spring. It’s something to also discuss with crop insurance. Regarding irrigated ground, I have been recommending to put on 0.5”, potentially with two shots if needed, for cover crops. This may seem like a waste of water, so my explanation. The covers are an investment for soil erosion loss, uptaking excess nitrogen, aiding with weed control next year, and/or for grazing. With no soil moisture, the low amounts of irrigation are to get seeds growing or keep seedlings alive for the time being.
Trees and Lawns: We also need to be deeply watering trees in landscapes. Push a screwdriver in the ground to determine wetting depth. Kentucky bluegrass is shallower-rooted and doesn’t take heat as well as fescue. However, bluegrass will go dormant without dying, whereas fescue, even though it’s deeper rooted and more drought-tolerant, doesn’t go dormant from drought-stress, so it can die. After bluegrass has reached three weeks of dormancy and fescue has changed color, it’s recommended to water 0.5”/week to keep both grass species from dying.
JenREES 8/20/23
Two weeks’ worth of articles to share here. Lots happened with weather for fields, vegetables, trees.
Water use till maturity for Corn: Dough 7.5”; Beginning Dent 5”, ¼ milk 3.75”; ½ milk 2.25”; ¾ milk 1”.
Water use till maturity for Beans: Beg. Seed 6.5”; Full Seed 3.5”; Leaves beg yellow 1.9”.
Silage: With higher nitrates in drought-stressed corn, for those cutting the corn for silage, please be aware of silage gas (nitrogen dioxide) which is toxic. National Ag Safety Database shares, “Shortly after ensiling green plant material, oxygen is used in fermentation and the nitrates in the plant are released as nitric oxide (NO). This gas quickly escapes from the silage and combines with oxygen in the air to form toxic nitrogen dioxide. The lethal gas is yellowish-brown and smells like some laundry bleaches. After more oxidation, it forms N2O5, which then forms highly corrosive nitric acid when combined with water. Since oxidation may occur in the lungs, nitrogen dioxide can produce permanent lung damage.” Nitrogen dioxide is denser than air so it hangs out in low-lying areas around the bunker or pile (stay out of these low lying areas to reduce exposure). It’s worse the first 12-60 hours after ensiling. More info: https://nasdonline.org/901/d000741/watch-out-for-silage-gas.html.
Grazing: Grazing drought-stressed corn or harvesting the corn and grazing the residue can still be safely done in spite of higher nitrates. The key is to remember the nitrates are highest in the stalk, particularly the lower foot of the stalk. Thus, for those choosing to graze drought-stressed corn instead of harvesting, the cattle will pre-select for ears first followed by husk and leaf tissue which are low in nitrate concentrations. The same goes when grazing harvested fields high in nitrates. As long as the cattle aren’t forced to eat much more than any grain, leaf, husk, one can better manage for nitrates.
In both cases, since grain will be present at this point, there’s increased risk of acidosis due to potentially higher grain in the cow’s diet. Strip grazing can help limit the amount of grain cattle are allowed to consume at one time. Also, adapt cattle to grain by feeding two to three pounds per day and slowly move up to 10-15 pounds per day over approximately 10-14 days. Turn cattle out that are full and make sure plenty of fresh water is readily available. Also consider feeding high quality hay as a supplement and then moving to the corn field for a period of time during the day. Cross fencing and strip grazing areas will help limit intake and reduce trampling while turned out on drought-stressed corn. I realize many probably won’t strip graze or allocate acres. Stalk trampling can provide ground cover. The problem is when cattle are forced to eat the trampled stalks and end up with portions of stalks higher in nitrates. Those are the concerns to watch for.
Some asked about grazing drought-stressed soybeans where pods quit filling/didn’t develop. From what I understand (please check with your insurance), crop insurance rules don’t allow the soybeans to be released till they’re brown. However, ask them if you can leave strips and you should be able to utilize the rest for forage. Soybeans were originally developed as a forage crop and they have value when they’re green with low bloat risk. Once they turn brown, the quality becomes like sawdust in feed value. Don’t let young calves graze beans with seeds due to problems with high oil content. We wrote more about this topic in this article: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/2023/soybeans-forage. One final important thing is not to provide access to blocks, tubs or supplements that contain urea when allowing access to raw soybeans. Raw soybeans contain urease that can rapidly turn urea into ammonia and cause ammonia toxicity.
Final consideration: I realize this sounds crazy in the midst of drought, but I’m also thinking about soil erosion if we get wind again. Perhaps consider a cover that will winter kill like brassicas/spring cereals to get some roots in the ground where silage is being chopped or in the wildfire damaged areas. I know winter cereals like rye took a lot of moisture in a drought year and got a bad rap-they did hold the soil in place. Some are hoping to plant wheat after silage. Just a consideration; it will rain again one day.
Soybean Problems: White mold, sudden death syndrome, and gall midge have also been hot topics for several weeks. For white mold and SDS, aim to irrigate deeper and less frequently. Gall midge is popping up more in Seward Co. and there’s still too much unknown about it. Will share more next week.
Corn Grower Banquets: Aug. 28: Hamilton Co. Corn Growers 5 p.m. plot tour-field ¼ north of 6 road and J near Giltner; 6 p.m. meal and program Giltner Community Center with featured speaker KAAPA Ethanol. Aug. 29: York Co. Corn Growers 6 p.m. seed dealers share, 6:30 p.m. social, 7 p.m. meal and program with featured speaker Sentinel Fertigation (all at Stone Creek in McCool Junction). Cost $15 for beef and chicken meal and appetizers. RSVP to 402-362-5508 or any corn grower director.
Vegetables: Many questions on vegetables. Basically, the humidity allowed for a number of fungal diseases to get started. Most vegetables with blemishes can still be eaten or used (just wash and remove the blemishes). One can’t use green beans with rust and it’s not recommended to can tomatoes with certain diseases (tomato ringspot virus, lateblight fungus) as they can change the pH.
Brown leaf clusters: Every August, oak trees (but sometimes others such as hackberry, honeylocust, elm, linden) get a cluster of brown leaves towards the ends of branches. This damage is caused by twig girdlers or twig pruners, different types of beetles. Adult beetles chew a circle in the bark between where the old and new wood occurs on a twig. This girdles the twig, cutting off the water and nutrient supply causing its death. Eggs are then deposited and larvae hatch, tunnel, and survive in the dead twigs. Twigs girdled by any of these insects may stay attached to the main branch for several weeks or be broken out of the tree by wind. Tunneling in the twigs may not be evident in the fall if twigs fall out of the trees before the insect eggs have hatched. Mature trees with heavy infestations can look bad, but the damage isn’t a serious health problem to the tree and no chemical control is recommended. Burn or discard infected twigs in the fall and spring that contain developing larvae to minimize the impacts for the future.
JenREES 7/30/23
150th York County Fair: Hoping you can attend the 150th York County Fair this week! Full Schedule of
events at: http://www.yorkcountyfair.com. Raffle tickets are being sold for the York County Fair Foundation with proceeds used for projects at the fairgrounds. Only 400 tickets will be sold at $50.00 each. A total of 56 drawing winners will receive $150.00 each and the winning tickets get put back in the drawing for additional chances to win. Drawings will occur weekly from the first week of October 2023 through the last week of September 2024 (and daily winners during the 2024 York County Fair). Tickets can be purchased from Ag Society or Fair Foundation members, at a Fair booth in the Mercantile building during the County Fair, or at the York Co. Extension Office till Sept. 30 (or until all tickets are sold).
Weather Impacts: I keep saying we’re a long way from harvest and it seems like we continue to face difficulties. For me, it keeps reminding me that I’m not in control but I can look to and trust the One who is. Many worked so hard to keep livestock safe. Feel for those who unfortunately lost livestock to the heat and humidity. Farm Service Agency (FSA) asked that we remind producers of the Livestock Indemnity Program and to report livestock losses within 30 days of the losses occurring. Please call your local FSA office to provide an official notice of loss. The local office will share with you what is needed for appropriate documentation of losses.
It was a blessing to receive a widespread 2” of rain on Saturday morning! Also good to see something planted into some hail damaged fields. As storms continue to occur in different areas, what I’ve shared earlier in regards to forages still applies. Summer annuals can still be planted through Aug. 15 (unsure on haying depending on weather, but definitely can graze).
Flying/spreading oats, rye or other small grains with or without brassicas continues to be an option as well. Palmer is emerging. 2,4-D amine and 2,4-D ester are both labeled as “anytime” for applying before seeding any small grain. Read the specific label for any restrictions. Oats give the most fall forage. Earliest greenup in the spring is rye followed by wheat followed by triticale. Triticale will provide the most spring biomass but it comes on late (think June time-frame for haying).
Drought: By Friday afternoon, non-irrigated fields rapidly turned, were firing, and using fields for forage was the question, particularly from Nuckolls Co. I think most were just thinking ahead to having plans in place should they be needed. Reminder again, the field needs to be released by crop insurance. I called Dr. Mary Drewnoski to talk through grazing corn in brown silk to milk stages. We’re treating this as immature corn. So the considerations we gave before were the fact that nitrates would exist but that cattle would self-adapt as they graze the tops first. Any ears present will be mostly water. Mary’s main concern at this point was how much could be knocked down and under-utilized by allowing the full field vs. larger strip grazed areas. One can supplement with a few pounds of grain or with hay. She mentioned to not feed a non-protein nitrogen source (ex. lick tubs) when feeding high nitrate forages. Don’t turn out empty and allow access to plenty of fresh water. If plants end up completely brown before they’re released by crop insurance, it won’t change the nitrate concentration of those plants. Options at that point are still grazing or ensiling. For those who’ve shared they really want to hay the corn, know that your nitrate concentration will be highest with that option. Cut at least 8-12” above the ground. I would recommend sampling for nitrates after baling and also only consider this option if you have the ability to grind those bales and mix in a ration. Do NOT harvest or graze for at least three days following rain that “breaks” drought conditions. The rain causes an uptake of nitrogen from the soil, which is translocated into the plant. After three days, the nitrogen will have been converted to plant protein and is no longer in dangerous form.
Whether for drought or hail damage, for those trying silage, reposting Dr. Bruce Anderson’s silage info. “Fermentation usually (but not always) reduces nitrate levels and risk. Yield is about one ton per acre of silage for each harvested foot of earless corn plant (not counting the tassel). Feeding value is about 70% to 80% of well-eared corn silage. Corn with some grain (less than 50 bushels) tends to produce about one ton of silage for every five bushels of grain with a feed value about 80 to 90% of regular corn silage. Harvest timing is critical with silage to ensure the correct moisture for proper fermentation. Desired moisture level for silage is about 65%. Plants with any green leaves usually are too wet to chop for silage. For proper moisture, most leaves may need to be dead before chopping. The stalk and ear hold amazingly high water concentrations. For corn with no grain, even if all leaves are dead, the whole plant (and silage) moisture can be 70% if the stalk is still green and alive.
Once plants actually die they can rapidly dry down. There are several ways to reduce moisture content. If corn has pollinated, delay silage harvest until all chances of increased biomass tonnage have passed or plants naturally dry down to appropriate moisture levels. Corn can be windrowed and allowed to partially dry before chopping. Excessively wet material can be blended with drier feeds such as ground hay, cracked grain, or dried distillers grains. However, this can take a lot of material — about 500 lb of grain or hay to reduce each ton of chopped corn with 85% moisture down to 70% moisture. Silage inoculants may improve fermentation and preservation of drought-damaged silage.”
JenREES 7/2/23
This week thinking about gratitude. In spite of difficulties, we’re truly so blessed! Grateful for freedom as we celebrate this 4th! Grateful for all the smiles I saw towards the end of last week from farmers/families who had received some rain…whether it was 0.20” or over 1” over the few days. I think many of us just needed to feel/see/smell how fresh everything is after it again! Grateful for whatever corn unrolled! It’s so hard for those who still keep missing rain with how spotty it is. The mental toll is real with the stress and exhaustion so many producers are experiencing. I also feel for those who live in parts of the State/other states who got such bad hail and wind…I know many of you can empathize with them too.
Last week there were those desperate for forage for livestock who decided to graze non-irrigated acres. I sent out an email mid-week about crop insurance and grazing info. Won’t share all that here; it’s in this article: https://go.unl.edu/dhi9. First talk with crop insurance before making any decisions on drought or other disaster-impacted acres. If those acres are used before talking with insurance, a ‘0’ could be assessed for your 2023 APH which stays with you for 10 years. Loss will be assessed via stand reductions (minimal loss) or the permanent wilt method. The permanent wilt method assesses plants firing, lower leaves crumble easily in one’s hands, leaves don’t unroll at night, and plants don’t respond to moisture. Farmers also may have the option to leave strips that will be assessed at harvest (like you did with last year’s hail) if you prefer that.
Grazing makes the most sense to me on these acres desired for forage. Check for any herbicide restrictions then check with crop insurance. If the corn is released for grazing, there will be nitrates. We aren’t as concerned about grazing corn higher in nitrates prior to ear development compared to if the grazing would occur after an ear was put on. Protein is higher when grazing corn in these vegetative stages. Don’t turn livestock out empty. Providing plenty of fresh water will help reduce nitrate risk. Cattle should self-adapt by eating the tops of plants first and then will be more adapted to eating the higher nitrate areas lower in the plant. Don’t strip graze; allow open access to the field to allow more time for cattle to self-adapt to the nitrates. You can consider supplementing hay, grain, or both. There’s thoughts a little grain may be beneficial to provide energy to offset nitrates. We’re all learning so please share your observations. Additional forage info. here: https://go.unl.edu/dhi9.
Last week I investigated any potential in non-irrigated corn to better determine when it was done. Photos at jenreesources.com. Corn that is silver/gray and never unrolled with the rain is obviously done. But I was also grateful to see how much corn did unroll when it looked so toasted last Wed.! While very short, some put on several stacked leaves. There’s also a lot of corn rolled again after minimal rain. As I dissected plants in fields throughout the York/Seward county area that were at least 10 leaf (whether these plants were around knee high or above waist high), I found the primary ears and saved them. Carefully dissecting them, I then put them under the microscope. In all fields I was finding 10-16 rows around! So, I was wrong! A few weeks ago I shared I didn’t think we’d have more than 4-8 rows around on these very stressed plants during that 5-8 leaf development time-frame. I’ve wrestled this week in sharing this as I didn’t know if it would provide encouragement or discouragement. We’ve got a long way to go with receiving adequate moisture to get to pollination, timing of pollen-shed/silking coinciding, etc. Yet, I also felt sharing could provide some hope and much-needed encouragement of some potential for those who got some rain and saw leaves unroll. Hopefully this info. does a little of the latter for you. For me, no matter what happens, with my faith, it gave me such an awe of the Creator in seeing these tiny kernels.
As tasseling approaches in irrigated fields, think through your decisions regarding costs. You’ve put a lot of money already into irrigation with a long season ahead. I’m always the outlier on this, but consider if/when you really need fungicide/insecticide apps instead of automatically applying. Delaying till needed buys you time with the residual. Also, please take at least 10 minutes a day to stop and take a break with positive activity to refresh one’s mind. Maybe even jot a few things down you’re grateful for each day? Sometimes stress can lead to unwise decisions-please take care of yourselves!
In case Japanese beetles explode this week, here’s a printable resource for homeowners in advance: https://go.unl.edu/bke4.
A tale of three corn plants from the same non-irrigated drought-stressed field that were rolled for well over 20 days. These are heights on me so much shorter for all you taller individuals!
JenREES 6/25/23
Crop Updates: Irrigated crops are moving along with corn approaching the late vegetative stages and many beans in beginning to full flowering. Spidermites in stressed fields; no point doing anything. Small grasshoppers and Japanese beetle adults starting to emerge…sorry everyone, I groaned too!
Soy Problems: Past 10 days received calls and texts from a large area regarding soybean often having yellowing to some extent, growing slowly, some with stacked internodes and some dying. Chem may not have broken down with the dry conditions from last year’s corn herbicides. Most situations had some type of Group 27 chemistry and yellowing of newer trifoliates and buds could be seen. In irrigated fields, the soybeans are growing out of it with water and time. In non-irrigated fields, the drought isn’t helping with plant metabolism and breakdown of herbicide.
Also, a number of reports of soybean plants dying. Work through each situation to determine if herbicide carryover, drought, seedling disease, other issues, or a combination of factors are the issue. Many times I’m seeing a combination of factors. Seeing some plants in non-irrigated situations have a red lesion on the stem with rotted roots, which can be an indication of Rhizoctonia root rot (disease that occurs with stress, particularly herbicide injury and drought). Some soybeans dying in irrigated situations were replanted beans that didn’t have a seed treatment fungicide on them and they have characteristic phytophthora root rot (dark lesion from soil line up and rotted roots), sometimes also in combination with herbicide carryover symptoms. Many have mentioned beans are short and not growing quickly. Dry conditions and often also Group 15 products can result in slowed growth as the beans are trying to metabolize those products. Most are aware of the heart-shape/club shape as normal to leaves of beans from metabolizing Group 15 products.
Crop Insurance Question: Several asked about gravity irrigated soybeans that are too small to ridge in gravity irrigated fields and pivot corners if they could just change the designation to non-irrigated beans. Another consideration, some wells are sucking air and they’re concerned about keeping pivots going. In talking with someone from crop insurance, he said that designations are based on whatever the intent at planting was and that can’t be changed. However, they are receiving the same questions and being unable to ridge beans can be an insurable cause of loss, so please talk with your crop insurance agent about your specific situation.
Irrigating Beans: Glad to see moisture has been pushed into the third foot in more corn fields. Typically we’d avoid irrigating soybean at flowering to avoid disease onset such as sudden death syndrome and white mold, but this year depends on your current soil moisture status, if it’s canopied or not (less favorable for disease if it isn’t yet), and the disease history of the particular field. If there’s no subsoil in bean fields with minimal canopy cover, I’ve been saying to irrigate deeply and less frequently during soybean flowering.
ET (Evaporation from the soil surface and Transpiration of water through the leaves) has been higher in our area this year. Factors that contribute to ET include humidity, temperature, wind, cloud cover. We’ve had low humidity (unusual for us-thus lack of rainfall), intense sun with minimal cloud cover, and a few days with some wind. Knowing ET helps one understand how the crop uses water to better schedule irrigations. UBBNRD sends out ET info. from the York 2W mesonet station; please let Terry Julesgard know if you’d like to receive it. Otherwise ET info. at: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/gdd-etdata.
Forage insurance webinar on June 29th at Noon. Info. at: https://go.unl.edu/k6s7.
Weed Science Field Day June 28th at South Central Ag Lab near Clay Center where a number of corn and soybean herbicide programs are showcased. Herbicide programs with planting green, interseeding cover crops also shown. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. (Reg. at 8:30 a.m.). RSVP: https://agronomy.unl.edu/fieldday
Graze Master Event June 28-29th in Seward County featuring tours of area producers’ operations and many speakers. Info. and RSVP: https://www.grazemastergroup.com/events.
Tomato leaves curling: Lots of reasons. Lower leaves curling often due to heat/water stress. Upper leaves curling could be virus, insects, or herbicide damage. Look at all plants in the garden. If only tomato plants impacted, and only certain ones with upper leaves, most likely a virus-remove those plants. If upper leaves curling due to growth regulator (2,4-D/dicamba) injury, I say remove any current fruit on the plants and just keep watering to dilute it in the plant. If new growth in several weeks looks normal, you can eat new fruit. More info. from Backyard Farmer video: https://youtu.be/gsaWvzghaYQ.
Please take care of yourselves! Recent webinar recording about stress: https://go.unl.edu/5oje Nebraska Rural Response Hotline: 1-800-464-0258.
JenRees 6/18/23
Drought: Several have asked about the yield potential of non-irrigated pivot corners if they were irrigated at this point. I don’t know if anyone really knows. This column reaches such a wide area. There’s part of the area I serve that I don’t think there’s any yield potential. For other places, my guess is ears wouldn’t be more than 4-8 rows around. I asked a plant breeder for his perspective. He shared it could be possible for 100-120 bu/ac with rain, depending on how long it had been rolled, and for corn further along (late vegetative stages). I’m seeing non-irrigated corn in most area drought-stressed fields are 4-7 leaf vs. 8-12 leaf in the pivot irrigated portion. The research I found says, from Emergence to 12 leaf corn, an estimated 1-3% yield loss occurs for each day after 4 consecutive days of stress. Some corn in the area has been rolled for nearly 18 days. Here’s some math for consideration if it can help (I’m going to use 20 days of stress). Let’s say you typically receive 180 bu/ac non-irrigated yield. 1% yield loss/day for 20 days would result in a loss of 36 bu/ac. A 2% yield loss/day for 20 days would result in a loss of 72 bu/ac and a 3% yield loss/day for 20 days would result in a loss of 108 bu/ac.
I’m honestly surprised that the drought-stressed corn is still gray-blue/green in color overall with only a few scattered plants firing now. I know it’s hard to see the corn dying. Each situation varies regarding well capacity and if there’s other wells to water corners, how long the corn has been stressed, etc. Overall, my suggestion has been to not divert water from pivots to save corners. For beans, they’re putting energy into deeper roots with less above-ground growth. These small beans will most likely flower shortly and yield loss will be from aborted flowers, pods, or death of plants if we don’t get rain.
Several have also commented on weed control difficulties with drought-stressed weeds. There’s two well-written articles in this week’s CropWatch https://cropwatch.unl.edu about drought-stressed weeds.
ET/GDD info: The CropWatch ET (evapotranspiration) info. is now available at: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/gdd-etdata.
2nd Cutting Alfalfa: Non-irrigated alfalfa fields are short (6-12”) with some blooming. Received a question regarding to cut or not. Dr. Bruce Anderson had shared in previous years that one needs to obtain at least 0.5 ton/acre in order to pay for harvesting costs. With higher hay prices and short forage, you can determine what’s best for your situation. Alfalfa that goes dormant will regrow when rains occur. By leaving it alone, the alfalfa will go dormant and eventually lose the leaves from the stems. If you hay or shred it, it may try to regrow, but with no moisture, it will also go dormant. There’s also potential to damage crowns from driving on extremely stressed alfalfa. If you can fence it and have water access, grazing full-bloomed alfalfa is also an option and is low-risk for bloat at that stage.
Lawn Watering: Lawns are really showing drought stress. Kentucky bluegrass is shallower-rooted and doesn’t take heat as well as fescue. However, bluegrass will go dormant without dying, whereas fescue, even though it’s deeper rooted and more drought-tolerant, doesn’t go dormant from drought-stress, so it can die. After bluegrass has reached three weeks of dormancy and fescue has changed color, it’s recommended to water 0.5”/week to keep both grass species from dying.
Oak Leaf Tatters: Received calls in the Henderson/Bradshaw area about oak trees with leaves that looked like they’d been eaten; no insects were present. Several calls earlier in the year were regarding malformed oak leaves, primarily on young oak trees (1-5 years old). Oak leaf tatters is a condition characterized by Iowa State, where cold stress when tree leaves are emerging coupled with herbicide injury causes oak leaves to look deformed, tattered, or look like they’ve been eaten. I see problems every year with oak trees, primarily in lawns when ‘weed and feed’ products are applied when oak tree leaves are emerging. So, in the future, avoid those products in lawns during leaf emergence. There were also some late cold snaps that likely impacted oak trees when leaves were ready to emerge. There’s nothing to do other than to water to avoid drought stress. All the trees I looked at are developing new growth; they’ll look more ‘normal’ in 10-14 days. The cold snaps may have also impacted apple and other fruit tree varieties that were in the pink/white bud stage or already starting to bloom, thus why some trees don’t have fruit.
Please take care of yourselves! Rural Wellness website: https://ruralwellness.unl.edu/ and Nebraska Rural Response Hotline: 1-800-464-0258.
JenREES 6/11/23
Last week I heard the following repeated themes:
- What are we going to do with dryland crops/pivot corners/endrows?
- I just keep lying awake at nights trying to figure out how to feed livestock. I need to sell cows.
- I’m exhausted and it’s only early June.
- I have no idea how I should be irrigating right now.
- This may sound crazy, but I’m thinking…
For the majority of us, this is unchartered territory for making decisions and seeking to advise. Yes, we’ve had drought before. The extra significance with this year is the fact that, for the majority of us in our lifetimes, we haven’t experienced this lack of subsoil moisture. As I continue to probe fields, non-irrigated subsoil moisture doesn’t often go below 8-10” into the ground and irrigated subsoil moisture doesn’t often go below 20-24”. We all know this; we desperately needed this past weekend’s rains which too many in the area didn’t receive.
With every challenge is opportunity, and for me, the opportunity here is learning. I keep listening to stories from older generations or those out west. Even those out west who experience drought shared that they usually have some subsoil moisture and corn often gets to at least waist tall before dying. Corn dying at ankle to knee high for us is very hard to see.
Consider talking with others. There may not be ‘right’ answers, but instead, making the best decisions we can with the information we have right now. We’re learning together.
Several mentioned trying to keep some armor (residue/plants with roots) on the soil to protect pastures which means getting cattle off earlier in spite of forage being tight. The hardest conversations have been around selling cows because that’s a livelihood and people have built up genetics.
For irrigation, the comment many of us shared was trying to get moisture down into the profile for later in the season as water levels continue to decline and with low capacity wells. Steve Melvin and team wrote a CropWatch article that shares additional thoughts: https://go.unl.edu/80w2.
For non-irrigated crops, forage has been on my mind all year. Thus, why I wasn’t recommending full chem loads and side-dress nitrogen applications depending on the individual field situations. My thought has been these non-irrigated crops become opportunities for grazing where that’s applicable. There’s considerations first such as being released by crop insurance, waiting till the crops have died as today’s hybrids and varieties are more resilient than the past, and checking herbicide grazing restrictions (I have pics of those from the UNL Weed Guide on my blog). I’ve been talking to a lot of people about how to graze corn and soybeans or other options and will share in future weeks if we need to go there.
For those considering planting an annual forage species (sorghum or millet species) after non-irrigated corn and soybean (that died from drought), we need 4-6” of rain to germinate seeds and for some subsoil moisture as that profile would’ve been completely depleted from the previous crop. We may not have enough moisture till closer to August. In the meantime, would recommend checking herbicide plant-back restrictions and that you consider the opportunity for annual forage insurance. There’s upcoming workshops (Beatrice & Hastings on June 20) where you can learn more: https://go.unl.edu/ubyt.
By the end of last week, I realized I was doing a poor job of encouraging people and finding positives in situations. I needed a change in perspective. For me, I have nothing without my faith and renewing my hope in a much larger eternal perspective was necessary. It helped me to get away to a Christian concert festival with friends and family and to hear an encouraging sermon at church. What may help you may differ, but I’d encourage you to take some time to de-stress and seek encouragement through positive activities. Whether through your faith, spending time in nature, music, exercise, journaling, reading, woodworking, seeing friends, etc., be intentional to take time away with positive activities. Also rest. Brandy VanDeWalle also shared thoughts on drought’s impacts on people in her blog: https://vandewalleviews.com/2023/06/09/drought-impacts-on-people/.
JenREES 6/4/23
Drought discussions: Grateful for any rain that anyone received! It’s amazing how even a small amount of rain can lift moods. Drought isn’t a fun topic but sharing questions I’ve received the past few weeks.
I think part of the reason why irrigated ground in general also greatly lacks subsoil moisture is because we irrigated far later into the season than typical with the replant crops in addition to not getting precipitation for recharge. Our silt-loam soils can hold at least 2.2”/foot of moisture with around half of that (1.1”) readily available to the plants. Soil moisture sensors or probing fields can give you an idea what’s even available in the soil profile and provide the reality of how much we really need to recharge the profile at this point. Also, various colorations of yellow/purple/blue/gray corn are all indications of drought stress based on how long they continue to roll leaves or are struggling to transport water and nutrients. Some hybrids have more of a purpling tendency upon stress due to their genetics.
Drought stress during V5-V8 corn can impact rows around on the developing ear. Hard, dry surface ground can also impact brace root development. In soybeans, stress right now makes the plants shorter and roots deeper. Iowa State showed a chart that when corn is drought stressed for four consecutive days from V1-V12, an estimated yield reduction of 1-3% per day is possible.
I think the discussion more than yield right now is how long/if these non-irrigated crops will survive. Some are hoping they can survive long enough to obtain any type of forage. If we don’t get rain, things are looking pretty bleak past potentially next week.
So what to do? For those with poor stands I’ve been advising to wait and see if we get rains by the federal crop deadlines. I’ve been asked by some if crop insurance will require replanting poor stands. In talking this through with someone in crop insurance, it sounds like they’re also recommending people to wait for now and replant won’t be required if we don’t get rains, because we have no surface moisture to germinate anything. He said they have allowed for replant in parts of the state that had some good recent rains but it’s really a case by case basis with as spotty as the rains have been. Many are concerned about weed control going forward, especially after our palmer problem last year. Without rain, we can’t activate chemical on these non-irrigated fields, so I don’t have good answers right now. We’ll have to see what happens.
Thinking about POST- herbicides and weed control, I’m late in sharing this but had several conversations the past 10 days. Most with non-irrigated fields weren’t throwing the whole load out there but instead some type of contact herbicide to burn down weeds present and wait and see what happened with rain. This was due to concerns over not having rain to activate residual, keeping options open if the current crop is destroyed and a forage crop could be planted later in the year, and concern over small, stressed corn/soy having to deal with a large chem load. We recommend residual products receive at least 0.5-0.75” within 5-7 days of application to activate them. Sometimes we can still get some activation with certain products up to 14 days after application, but from what I’ve heard from chem reps and weed scientists, that’s the max we can hope for.
Re-sharing this webinar on drought assistance: https://go.unl.edu/r24y. I also added a key graphic to my blog that shows when the livestock forage disaster program kicks in. It’s based on the drought monitor and it’s all triggered by county, not where the “line” is drawn in counties between drought designations. Most of the counties in this area of the State have now triggered D4 so the program kicks in for a 4 month payment factor. When a county is in D4 for 4 weeks, the payment factor increases to 5 months. There are several programs within USDA drought assistance including helping with feed and water transportation costs and for those who’ve had to sell off livestock. The webinar does a good job going through the programs and answering questions. You can also contact your local Farm Service Agency office with questions.
Final thoughts, in spite of how weary people are of irrigating and the craziness of having to lay pipe just to get plants going, I think most still feel blessed if they have irrigation. The corn in irrigated fields changed from the ‘ugly duckling’ stage to the pretty green stage this week and corn likes the day/night temps we’ve had. We will keep praying for rain and it will come in time!
JenREES 5/28/23
This time of year, when flags start lining the streets in towns, it’s always such a beautiful site to me. I also like visiting different cemeteries to see the veteran’s memorials and the flag displays. On Sunday, the way the large number of flags were unfurled in the wind at the cemetery in Utica was breathtaking…to the point on HWY 34, the two cars in front of me and I all hit our brakes and drove by slowly to take it in. Scenes like that or a beautiful rendition of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ will always get me. I’m so grateful God allowed me to be an American; I don’t know why He allowed the life I’ve had vs. others in the world, but I’m grateful. I’m grateful for the service members throughout history and to those who made the ultimate sacrifice so our Country could remain free. I’m grateful to their families for the sacrifices made, especially those left behind. In spite of everything going on in our Country and the world, and in spite of how differently people view freedom, we still are so blessed to live in this Country! So this Memorial Day, as we spend time with family and friends, as we remember and honor loved ones who have gone before us, may we also remember and be grateful for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, those families left behind, and may we keep praying for our Country and leaders, military members and their families.
Drought: One thing I was grateful for this week was, in general, the lack of high winds and high heat with as dry as it’s been. Heat and wind would make this situation even more difficult. I was also grateful the Drought Monitor acknowledged we needed to be moved into D4 and expanded the D3 area. These designations are important, particularly on the forage and livestock disaster assistance and insurance side. There’s many conversations that occur behind the scenes each week. Whenever I feel we can get a designation that better reflects our situation, I’m grateful. Special thank you to those who share info. on what you’re receiving for yields on alfalfa cuttings, pond, and pasture situations. Your input greatly helps me put together a better picture for those making decisions to consider. I share what I’m seeing but having specific info. from producers to share always helps. Others are welcome to share with me as well if you’d like!
USDA FSA with Nebraska Extension held a drought assistance programs webinar earlier this month. If you missed it and wanted to learn more, you can watch the recording here: https://go.unl.edu/r24y.
Regarding releasing of wheat for forage, several were also concerned about the potential for high nitrates. What Dr. Mary Drewnoski has observed through her research, demonstrations, and what we’ve seen with producer situations, is that yes, forages often test high in nitrates, but these immature small grains are also high in quality. She has found high quality and high energy help to off-set high nitrate danger. The following NebGuide walks through nitrate situations and considerations: https://go.unl.edu/bjdf.
Several also had conversations with me about pasture turnout. Some are turning out now/shortly with the goal of getting cattle off by mid to late-June. Others are hoping to graze/feed wheat or alfalfa first and then turn cattle out to pasture in June. Regardless, with short pastures, we need to think about pasture management too, even if we do get some rain. And, with pasture management comes thinking about potentially altering pasture leases.
Insects in Crops: Link to article on scouting emerging corn for insects: https://go.unl.edu/pg2c and light trap data for stations throughout the State: https://entomology.unl.edu/fldcrops/lightrap
Birch and other established trees: Trees that prefer moist soils, like some river birches, have branches that died down from the top. Sometimes only half the tree is leafed out. Young birch trees may be forgiving and recover if the dead is pruned out. As we think about established trees (birch or other species), lawn irrigation can be enough for established trees in our area in ‘average’ rainfall years. But with the drought stress, consider using soaker hoses and bark or wood chip mulches to help keep the root zones of trees cool and moist. When watering, moisten the soil 8 to 10 inches deep for trees (push a screwdriver in the ground to determine depth of moisture). Don’t overwater! Only apply 2-4” deep of bark mulch around trees and avoid placing mulch next to the tree trunk as that can create rotting of the trunk. Also don’t fertilize stressed trees.
JenResources 