JenREES 6/10/24
The scent of linden trees has been extra heavenly this spring! Am also grateful for the rains received and that we avoided a repeat of June 7, 2022.
Ground squirrels: The biggest question/complaint/concern I’ve received this spring is on ground squirrels as it seems they’ve been especially destructive to corn. In talking with various farmers and extension people about additional options for management, I heard the following: plant deeper (a couple plant 2 ¾” as they will dig to 2 ½”), get a badger!, and the majority try to bait holes and then replant. Zinc phosphide is labeled for use for ground squirrels. Nathan Mueller shared a pre-plant option with me (ZP® Rodent Bait AG) for consideration for next year. That product can be applied pre-plant or at planting according to labeled instructions.
Pill bugs/Roly Polys: I hadn’t mentioned this as a problem as I wasn’t aware anyone in our area was dealing with this. We did hear of some issues of pill bugs impacting soybeans in the Saline Co. area, but received a few comments about this in nearby counties last week too. Pill bugs are crustaceans that decompose organic matter. Often we see them under leaf litter, rocks, etc. in gardens and around homes. They are not considered a pest in general as they just decompose residue. However, there’s been reports of them munching on soybean hypocotyls in fields with a high amount of corn residue this year. More information can be found in this article: https://go.unl.edu/52n8.
Lawn clippings around plants: Many homeowners apply herbicides (or pay a company to apply them) to their lawns. Herbicides include products that control dandelions, clover, and other weeds in lawns. They are also contained in “weed and feed” products. Most of these herbicides have restrictions that require at least 3-4 mowings of the lawn (so essentially think 3-4 weeks) before lawn clippings can be placed around garden plants. Samples and pictures I’ve received of dying and/or curling leaves on tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and flowers the past few weeks have all been attributed to people placing lawn mulch around plants too soon.
Mulch and termites: Does using wood mulch around the home attract termites? No as the chipping process kills termites. The most noted study was conducted by Long, et al. in 2001 which compared different types of mulches. They found termites prefer higher nutrient woody materials like cardboard placed under inorganic mulches like pea gravel compared to wood or needle mulch. However, mulches can create a hospitable environment for subterranean termites already established in the soil near the home or building. Termites prefer a moist environment, so soil desiccation (letting the soil dry) near the house foundation is an important barrier. Some keys with applying mulch include: don’t apply more than 2” thick layer of mulch in landscape beds, ensure a 6” gap between the top of the mulch layer and the house siding, and avoid watering mulch or soil close the house foundation walls. Mulch can be applied up to the house foundation to within 12” of the foundation. One may also consult a professional to set up monitoring or barrier control methods for termites around the home or building. The following guide has additional helpful thoughts on termite prevention and control: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN1277.
Second Tuesday at 9 Weather Updates: Join Eric Hunt, agricultural meteorology and climate resilience extension educator, at 9 a.m. CT/8 a.m. MT on the second Tuesday of each month to hear insights on weather conditions across the state of Nebraska and Midwestern region, and updates on the long-range outlook. Participants will also have the opportunity to ask questions during the webinar, using the Q&A function in Zoom. Questions will be answered near the end of the webinar, as time permits. First webinar is this Tuesday, June 11th. Registration and recordings at: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/second-tuesday-9 .
June 2024 Events
Happy June! This week sharing on June upcoming events.
Roller crimping workshop will be held June 5th from 9:30-11:30 a.m. (Registration at 9 a.m.) at the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center, 1071 County Rd G, Ithaca. No pre-registration necessary and anyone interested in learning and/or sharing their experiences is welcome. During this short program, we will show a roller crimper in action, invite farmers to share their experiences with crimping, and discuss what conditions must be met to be successful with this termination method. Demo plots include barley, oats, rye, triticale, and wheat.
Progressive Ag Safety Day: Youth ages 5-14 are invited to attend the Progressive Ag Safety Day at the Fairgrounds in York on June 11 from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Safety topics include: Electrical, grain, sun, drug, equipment, and water safety. Registration fee is $5 which includes lunch, snacks, t-shirt, and goody bag. RSVP by calling 402-362-5508. This event sponsored by York Co. Farm Bureau and York Co. Extension.
SCAL Weed Management Field Day: Growers, crop consultants and educators are encouraged to attend Nebraska Extension’s Weed Management Field Day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Registration at 8:30 a.m.) June 26 at the South Central Agricultural Laboratory near Clay Center. It’s located five miles west of the intersection of Highways 14 and 6, or 13 miles east of Hastings on Highway 6. GPS coordinates for the field day site: 40.57539, -98.13776.
The field day includes on-site demonstrations of new technology and new herbicides for corn, soybean and sorghum. Projects include using cover crops such as cereal rye or interseeding small grains (wheat, oat, barley) for weed suppression, See and Spray Precision Sprayer, iGrowth and INZEN sorghum. Attending this field day will provide an opportunity to stakeholders to learn about management of herbicide-resistant weeds. There is no cost to attend, but participants are asked to pre-register online at https://agronomy.unl.edu/fieldday. CCA credits are available.
Paraquat Trainings: Syngenta is offering Paraquat Training Webinars for June 2024 for those who plan to apply this herbicide this year. The trainings are held from 1-2 p.m. CST on: June 5, 18, 20, 25, 26. Registration is required at: https://syngenta.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Gh1T5t4tTS-S3QbFJUJe-w#/registration. Registration will require: first and last name, email address, state, and pesticide certification license number. There is a mandatory quiz at the end of the webinar that will be conducted thru zoom, so you need to stay on until the end of the webinar.
Yellow Nutsedge Control: Kelly Feehan shared the following, “It is time for yellow nutsedge control if using herbicide for control. While we may not be able to see much sedge yet, it is starting growth and control from first week of June up to June 21st is important. Yellow nutsedge is the yellow grass-like plant with waxy blades that grows taller than Kentucky bluegrass. Larger plants are most noticeable after June. This perennial sedge begins to emerge from underground tubers in late May. To help reduce nutsedge, mow tall at 3.5 inches, and avoid overwatering. Hand-pulling can be effective where there are very few plants. If herbicides are used, products containing sulfentrazone, known as Dismiss, halosulfuron or Sedge-Hammer, and mesotrione such as Tenacity are labeled for postemergence control in cool-season turfgrasses. As always, follow all label directions.”
JenREES 5/26/24
Memorial Day: All the flags in cemeteries are extra striking this time of year. Thank you to all who take the time to put them up and take them down for the Memorial Day weekend! This weekend can provide a number of emotions and memories of people gone before us and is a special time to remember family members and friends. Many in the military community know of someone who didn’t come back home to their spouses/parents/kids left behind. Sometimes it’s hard to respond when people say, “Happy Memorial Day”. I was reading a post on Twitter from a military member. It shared what he’s doing by saying something to the effect of, “It’s a good day to remember (insert a person’s name and share about their service to keep their memory alive)”. I liked that idea. May we never forget those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our Country and for their families left behind!
Storms: Last Tuesday was one of the craziest days for an Extension program that I can remember. We were dealing with the flooding closing roads around the Eastern NE Research and Education Center near Mead in addition to three tornado warnings and a fire alarm. The attendees at the crop scouting clinic were great as were all my colleagues at adapting and we were all grateful to get out of there before the last road out closed too.
I’m grateful that we haven’t had the massive flooding of fields like what has occurred there. The winds have created damage to pivots, buildings, and bins. They’ve also created some damage to crops, and I’m getting more calls about that. I’ve seen where tornadoes will literally suck plants out of the ground leaving small holes in rows. Straight-line winds are shearing plants off at ground level or a little above, particularly in fields with bare soil.
For corn, the growing point is still below ground till V5-6, so we will need to watch for any new recovery from the whorls. Sometimes corn that gets silted in when cut off doesn’t recover well if bacterial diseases set in, so watch for recovery. For soybeans, plants cut off below the cotyledons won’t survive. If the beans are just sticks with no leaves, there are two growing points at the cotyledons, 2 at the unifoliates, and a number in the buds once the beans hit the first trifoliate. Individual plants vary a lot, but we will need to watch recovery of these plants and then take stand counts to determine any need to replant or patch in areas of fields.
Stands and Replant Decisions: The chart in this article (https://go.unl.edu/doi2) shows the considerations between stands and yield losses. Note that the yield reductions listed in this table may be greater than what actually occurs in 2024. I’d love to see updated research as we know planting windows have changed with corn through the years and we saw how well late June replanted corn yielded in 2022.
For soybeans, I realize people struggle with low populations, and I get it from the weed control aspect. We ultimately recommend to aim for a final plant stand of 100,000 plants/acre. After disaster events, I’ve often recommended leaving stands at 50,000 plants/acre. Based on research and observations of soybeans compensating for reduced stands due to increased branching, we recommend leaving an early planted soybean stand of at least 50,000 plants per acre that has fairly uniform spacing throughout the field. We realize that can be hard! University of Wisconsin found only a 2 bu/ac yield increase when replanting early soybeans between 50,000 and their optimum stand of 100,000-135,000 plants/acre. For stands less than 50,000 plants per acre, plant a similar maturity into the existing stand; don’t tear out or kill an existing stand as early planted soybeans have a higher yield potential. If you’d like to test this for yourself, consider an on-farm research study! Simply leave a planter pass of your existing stand, plant into your existing stand for a planter pass, and alternate this across your field. Please see this protocol for more information.
Memorial Day Prayer: This was shared by my church this weekend. May we never forget the sacrifice of those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom and their families left behind.
Gratitude
Grateful. The past few weeks I’ve just been thinking about gratitude for where we’re at this growing season, for the fact that we’ve all received some rain at some point this spring, and for the rain in the past 24 hours. It just totally changed the outlook for this growing season from the conversations I was having prior to the rains! And, grateful for some rest on rainy days like this!
While some have been frustrated at planting delays, we’re not late. I’m grateful for how quickly acres get planted and for how many finished up this past weekend, including our family. Smaller rains have helped with soil crusting, activating herbicide, and helping with grass establishment for the number of people who are trying to improve lawns and pastures. Grateful we’re not running pivots at the same time as planting like we were last year. Grateful for red and black cows on green grass! 😊 I find the color contrast so pretty. That site didn’t exist at this time last year. It’s just such a blessing to have green grass in pastures and lawns this year! The alfalfa, rye, and wheat have been tremendous too!
20 years ago, I began my Extension career in Clay and Webster Counties. The primary question I kept receiving was on common mullein control in pastures, which began my on-farm research journey. I still remember the tornado damage my first weekend on the job and I think of all the tornadoes, hailstorms, windstorms, flooding and drought we have dealt with since. While devastating, I’m grateful for all I’ve learned with each storm to hopefully help others the next time one occurs. There’s so much community in neighbors helping neighbors. There’s such resiliency and optimism to keep going and reliance upon one’s faith!
Reflecting, I think of how blessed I am to have served people in a lot of counties since then, for all the wonderful people I’ve met and learned from. My only regret has been being spread so thin to serve people the way I like. Grateful for this blog and media that help me share more broadly when I couldn’t always be physically present. Grateful for my mentors. Grateful for those who gave a young girl out of college a chance to prove herself looking at fields and working with them. Grateful for all the youth I’ve had an opportunity to work with through the years as well! The people of Clay County and that area will always hold a special place in my heart for how you accepted me and helped me in learning how to juggle the ag, 4-H program, and horticulture questions I received and for the grace given in the mistakes I made along the way.
I’ve always been fairly driven. Yet, I’m grateful for those, some still with us and others not, who instilled in me early on the importance of people in addition to my work tasks by making me stop to talk after a field visit or if I was in the area. While I still make mistakes, it changed my outlook early on how I approach work; everything we do ultimately impacts people and each interaction is important. I’m so blessed by all the friends who stop in when they see my truck, call/text/email me just to check in, and for the number of people who send me field updates. Grateful and blessed by all the farmers who’ve allowed me to walk alongside of them in their journeys through the years via on-farm research, who share ideas of things to try, and the farmers and ag industry professionals who invite me to look at problems when they occur-sometimes even fields without problems. Ultimately, I just feel so blessed that God has allowed me the opportunity to serve people and for the freedom I have to do so in my Extension career!
Heuermann Lecture: There may be interest for some to attend the next Heuermann Lecture on May 29 around Innovation in Ag Tech: Cultivating Tomorrow’s Farms, 3:00 p.m., Nebraska Innovation Campus, https://heuermannlectures.unl.edu/ . In the past, they’ve also been livestreamed and recorded. I can’t tell if it will be livestreamed, but check the website that day if you can’t attend in person, or to view the recording later.
A few pics through the years (avoiding all the crop damage ones). Good memories (well other than the farmers may not have thought so about the chemigation test!) but there were farmers from several counties represented in that pic. Also, for clarity, I’m not planning on going anywhere. I’m just grateful to have served in Extension for 20 years thus far.
JenREES 5/13/24
Wheat Fungicide Considerations: Part of the area receiving this news column grows wheat for grain as it’s a great crop in rotation. The wheat has looked tremendous this year! Varieties that are susceptible to stripe rust are showing low to medium disease pressure. Wheat ranges from the flag leaf through late boot/early heading stages. Last week, the question was if growers should spray a fungicide to protect the flag leaf from stripe rust. I’m unsure how many still have that question this week but am writing about the tradeoffs I talked about with growers.
We did have a few growers choose to apply fungicide to protect the flag leaf as their wheat had good yield potential and the variety was very susceptible. That was most likely the best decision for these specific field situations with how quickly stripe rust was setting in in their wheat with the cooler conditions and the high humidity within the canopy. It’s important to know one’s economics to make that individual situation as there’s potential we may need a fungicide application for wheat scab (fusarium head blight) prevention as well. A map of where stripe rust has been observed can be found at: https://go.unl.edu/98zy Please note the map doesn’t reflect the fact that it’s also observed in Nuckolls and Webster counties.
With non-irrigated wheat and the economics of it, many try seeing if we could get by with one fungicide application at flowering. A fungicide app at flowering to prevent wheat scab will also kill any fungi present on the leaf surfaces. Fungicide options include: Prosaro, Prosaro Pro, Caramba, Proline, Miravis Ace, and Sphaerex. Applying when 30% of the wheat is at beginning flowering (seeing yellow anthers in the center of the head) provides the best timing and efficacy. Applying too early before flowering or after the majority of the wheat is past 50% flowering doesn’t provide as good of efficacy. I realize the timing is tough. We normally have a 3-5 day window to get fungicides applied timely and efficacy isn’t guaranteed to be greater than 70%. Efficacy also improves when we can increase the gallonage of aerial apps to 4-5 gallons/acre. You can monitor the potential for wheat scab risk at: https://www.wheatscab.psu.edu/.
Roller Crimping Workshop May 22: For growers and ag industry professionals interested in learning more about roller crimping, Nebraska Extension is hosting a roller crimper workshop from 9:30-11.30 am. Wednesday, May 22 at the University of Nebraska Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center, 1071 County Rd G, Ithaca. We’re also seeking growers to speak about their experiences with roller crimping at this workshop, so please let us know if you’re interested in that.
Roller crimpers are used to mechanically terminate cover crops without soil disturbance and ideally create a thick mulch that will act as a weed barrier. Crimpers are used by organic farmers, regenerative farmers and others who, for various reasons, want to reduce herbicide inputs and/or improve weed management with their cover crops.
During this short program, we will show a roller crimper in action, invite farmers to share their experiences with crimping, and discuss what conditions must be met to be successful with this termination method. Demonstration plots with small grains of barley, oats, rye, triticale, and wheat will be showcased to compare the differences amongst them side by side. On-site registration begins at 9 a.m. For more information, please contact Katja Koehler-Cole at kkoehlercole2@unl.edu. This event is sponsored by Nebraska Extension and the USDA Transition to Organic Partnership Program.
Intro Crop Scouting: Also, for those interested in learning about introductory crop scouting, we’ll be having a clinic on May 21st at ENREEC near Mead. More info: https://go.unl.edu/29qk.
JenREES 5/6/24
I’m so grateful for the rain and the green is so beautiful!!! The rain has led to some questions.
Corn Yields: it’s still early! I’ve mentioned this often to people the past week. We now set at May 5. In 2023, Dr. Jim Specht led a CropWatch article looking at NASS yields and 50% planting progress over 43 years (https://go.unl.edu/dge7). A summary of the data showed, delays in the Nebraska corn 50% progress date that occur within the May 2-12 planting period do not seem to have an appreciable impact on resultant corn yield. You have heard me and others talk about planting windows for several years based on data that Dr. Roger Elmore had previously shared and that information has been consistent with data from Iowa, Indiana and the U.S that corn yield doesn’t appear impacted till after mid-May. For perspective, think about the 2022 replant corn yields.
Regarding soybeans, Dr. Specht shared (in 2023), “one other notable feature is that Nebraska producers have advanced the 50% soybean progress date from a 43-year mean of May 22 by eight days to a projected date of May 14 for the year 2023. That eight-day shift to earlier soybean planting in Nebraska would have generated 0.99 x 8 = ~ 8 bu/ac greater yield for irrigated soybean producers and 0.54 x 8 = ~ 4 bu/ac greater yield for rainfed soybean producers.” The soybean planting date is more critical than corn. A number of producers have either finished soybeans before corn or have been planting at the same time to take advantage of increased soybean yields.
Pre-Plant Nitrogen movement with rains: In short, “it depends” is the best answer based on soil type, nitrogen source, soil moisture, amount of nitrate in the soil, and soil temp. Additional sampling such as soil, tissue, or using tools like Sentinel Fertigation can help in season to better understand plant nitrogen needs. University of Minnesota shares, “As a rule of thumb, with each inch of water moving down through the soil, nitrates will move down with that water five to six inches in silt loam and clayey soils, and up to 12 inches in sandy soils.” Ammonia binds to soil particles and is more stable in the soil. Urea will move with water if applied shortly before a heavy rain and can leach; however, it also quickly converts to ammonium in the soil, which is a stable source of nitrogen not easily leachable. A CropWatch article written in 2013 helps in a year like this without a full soil moisture profile, “If nitrogen was applied as a surface broadcast application immediately before rainfall (to a silt loam soil), it would move down with the rainfall. Its distribution in the soil would not be uniform, but 3 inches of infiltrated rain would distribute the nitrogen in the top 18 inches of soil. There would still be some nitrogen in the top 6 inches, but the “bulge” of the nitrate concentration would be at about 12 inches. Corn roots will grow into that nitrogen and there should not be an N deficiency as early plant needs would be met.” (https://go.unl.edu/76yw)
University of Minnesota shares that microbes will convert various nitrogen sources to nitrate twice as fast with each 10F temperature rise. Their example was, “urea that takes 24 days to fully convert to nitrate at 50°F will fully convert to nitrate in six days at 70°F.” For perspective, we’ve been holding around 58F for the past week. So the short answer is for most situations, we most likely haven’t lost much if any pre-plant nitrogen beyond the root zone due to the soil conditions thus far. Use in season tools and sampling to understand specific field situations.
Alfalfa Weevil Control Tradeoffs: With current hay prices and alfalfa in the late vegetative to early bud stage, we’re looking at alfalfa weevil thresholds of 1.5-2 weevil larvae per stem (threshold charts here: https://go.unl.edu/p6ym). The challenging decision right now is if you wish to cut alfalfa early or treat with a shorter pre-harvest interval product. Reports in the Holdrege area have shared weevil resistance to products with lambda-cyhalothrin (Warrior, etc.). Steward is a product that contains a different active ingredient (indoxacarb) and is safer for beneficial insects, but costs more. It could be an option for those of you further out from first cutting. For those of you getting towards early bud, perhaps the option is to take an early first cutting and watch regrowth of second cutting if you’re at the economic threshold?
Smaller Trees for Landscapes
What a blessing to receive rain!!! Also a blessing for all the acres planted the past week in good conditions!
Crabgrass Preventer timing: Crabgrass germinates when soil temperatures are maintained at 55F for 5-7 consecutive days. As I write this, soil temps for the York area have averaged 55F for the past week. So, it would be a good idea apply crabgrass preventer soon. You can consider splitting your crabgrass herbicide application by applying half of the highest labeled rate now and the other half 6-8 weeks later. Often there’s a flush of crabgrass later in the season and splitting the application can help with that.
Paraquat Training Webinars for anyone who needs certification or re-certification for Paraquat Handling. Paraquat Training Webinar Registration 2024 (https://syngenta.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_D4RPlS2_RAyWTDJ_tBtv3A#/registration). The registration link will require: first and last name, email address, and certification license #. There is a mandatory quiz at the end of the webinar that will be conducted thru zoom, so attendees have to attend the entire webinar and take the quiz. Webinar dates: April 30th from 1-2 p.m. and May 1 from 2-3 p.m.
Smaller Trees for Landscapes: Last Friday was Arbor Day and Kelly Feehan, Extension horticulture educator, shared information on smaller trees to consider for landscapes. “Following are suggestions for smaller trees for Nebraska. These are hardy trees under 30 feet tall that are aesthetically pleasing for more than one season. Be careful of selecting trees with one good characteristic, like leaf color, but have nuisance characteristic like root suckering such as Canada red or Schubert chokecherry and Quaking aspen.
A small ornamental tree we need more of is Serviceberry (Amelanchier sp). Trees range from 15 to 25 feet tall and are native or regionally native depending on the species. They have white April blooms, making them a replacement for overplanted ornamental pear. Edible fruit produced in June attracts songbirds who devour all the fruit. Most have orangish fall color like the cultivar “Autumn Brilliance”.
Hardy northern sources of Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) are good to plant. With purplish pink blooms in April, they stand out each spring. They are native and prefer part shade, especially afternoon shade in hot Nebraska. ‘Alba’ and ‘Royal White’ are white booming cultivars.
Ironwood or American Hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) is a tough, durable tree. It tolerates alkaline soil and dry sites. Another native, it typically grows 25 to 30 feet tall and has interesting fruit and bark. The bark is flaky and the fruit, resembling clusters of hops, appear in July or August.
Hawthorns are also tough trees but many have thorns. Thornless cockspur Hawthorn (Crataegus cusgalli var. inermis) is a good choice. These 15 to 25 foot tall tree has glossy green leaves, white spring flowers, and persisting red fruit. When fruit persists into winter, they add winter interest and provide food for wildlife. Hawthorns tolerates alkaline soils and dry or wet sites.
Japanese tree lilac (Syringa reticulata) is a tree form of lilac growing up to 20 to 30 feet. They bloom in June with white, fragrant flowers and are proving to be tolerant of clay soils and urban conditions. Peking tree lilac is a subspecies. The cultivar ‘Copper Curls’ has exfoliating coppery bark and trees are growing in the Blair NE arboretum and at the North Platte research station.
Corneliancherry dogwood (Cornus mas) is hardier than flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) and has yellow flowers in April. It grows to 15 to 25 feet and has sour but edible fruit for use in jams and jellies. Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) has interesting white flowers in May and red fall color. It needs uniform moisture or leaves can scorch causing the edges to turn brown.
Fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus) ranges in height from 12 to 20 feet. It has very interesting white flowers that resemble fringes and bloom in May. They are fragrant and followed by bluish fruit to attract songbirds. With yellow fall color and good adaptability to urban sites, it’s worth trying.
A smaller maple to use is Shantung maple (Acer truncatum). The leaves resemble Japanese maple leaves, but this maple is hardier. It has orangish yellow fall color and reaches 20 to 25 feet tall. It is listed as having good drought and heat tolerance once established.”
I took a picture of this so here is a clickable link to register for the webinars: https://go.unl.edu/annualforagewebinar.
JenREES 4/19/24
Army cutworms have been found in some wheat and alfalfa fields. I honestly haven’t looked at pastures but have gotten several calls about pastures this week, so perhaps be looking at them as well. The threshold is four or more cutworm larvae per square foot of winter wheat or alfalfa. A lower threshold is necessary for stands that are new or had some winterkill/drought-stressed. Damage looks like chewing on the leaves stems to complete stand reduction. Army cutworm larvae are greenish-brown to greenish-grey caterpillars, approximately ½ to two inches in length. They feed at night so you may have to look under residue or dirt clods to see them in the day.
Nitrogen Fertilizer Trends in Nebraska from 1955-2023: Dr.’s Richard Ferguson, Bijesh Maharjan, and Javed Iqbal wrote a nice updated article on nitrogen fertilizer trends for CropWatch this week. I pulled out a few excepts here, but please also check out the full article with the graphs and figures here: https://go.unl.edu/ki69.
“As farmers embark on another growing season in Nebraska, most will be applying some form of nitrogen fertilizer to optimize crop production. … Initially, ammonium nitrate, mostly sold in bags, and anhydrous ammonia were the dominant fertilizer sources. Nitrogen fertilizer use grew steadily from 1955 into the 1970s as fertilizers became more available and farmers saw the benefit for crop production. During this period, urea and urea ammonium nitrate solutions became more available and their use grew. Anhydrous ammonia dominated fertilizer sales during this period, peaking in 1968 with over 75% of total N sold as anhydrous ammonia.
Use of urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) solution (both 28% and 32% N) began to take off in the 1980s, and today is the most dominant form of nitrogen fertilizer used in Nebraska. In 2022, 57% of all N consumed in Nebraska came from UAN solutions, while 23% came from anhydrous ammonia, and about 14% from urea.
Total nitrogen used in Nebraska began to plateau around 1980 until about 2010. Since then, trends for increasing total N use have been observed. This trend generally coincides with an increase in land area from which corn is harvested. Approximately 8.85 million acres of corn were harvested in Nebraska in 2010, while 9.5 million acres of corn were harvested in 2023.
Figure 4 shows a very positive overall trend, with fertilizer N use of around 1.6 to 1.7 pounds fertilizer N per bushel of corn in 1965, to around 0.8- to 0.9-pound fertilizer N per bushel of corn in 2022. This positive trend illustrates that Nebraska farmers have become much more efficient through the years in managing nitrogen fertilizer.
There are many factors influencing this trend, including genetics advances and overall improvement in production practices. However, it’s likely that a major factor in this trend has been growing awareness of the risk of environmental degradation from excessive nitrogen application, influenced by many educational programs conducted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and natural resources districts. This trend is also influenced by requirements in some groundwater management areas for producers to follow nitrogen and irrigation best management practices.
While the general trend for the past 60 years is positive, Figure 4 also shows very little change recently in fertilizer nitrogen use efficiency: it has remained around 0.8- to 0.9-pound fertilizer N/bu since 2000 (circled data points). This data also does not illustrate variations in efficiency that occur in regions across the state. This lack of recent improvement suggests that current widely used practices may have reached their limit in terms of nitrogen use efficiency, and adoption of other tools, such as in-season application and sensor-based fertigation, may be required to further increase nitrogen use efficiency.”
I took a picture of this so here is a clickable link to register for the webinars: https://go.unl.edu/annualforagewebinar
Planting Considerations
Planting Considerations: The warmer air and warming trend of soil temperatures have allowed for planting to begin last week for some. This week hopefully brings some moisture. It also looks like a cooling trend will occur the mid-half of the week with frost potential by the weekend.
Agronomically we’ve come a long way with genetics and seed treatments. Because of this, some don’t worry about soil temps. Yet every year I think most agronomists would say we can trace various problems back to a specific planting date(s) or planting window. So, I still feel they’re an important consideration.
We often hear a preference of planting corn and soybeans in as close to 50F or greater soil temperatures as possible. Below 50F, I prefer to see corn planted on a warming trend of 5-7 days like what we saw last week. The consideration is for soil temps in the mid-40’s on a warming trend with no chance of a cold snap (cold rain/snow) within 8-24 hours for soybean and 48 hours for corn. The time-frame is due to the imbibition (critical water uptake) time-frame for corn and soybean. Soybean seed uptakes water more rapidly than corn and once the imbibition phase is complete, the soybean going through the osmotic phase can tolerate 35-40F soil temps as long as soil is not saturated. Soil temps for your field can be monitored by using a thermometer or checking out CropWatch soil temps at: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/soiltemperature.
Besides soil temperatures, another part of the soil being fit for planting include the soil not being too wet to create sidewall compaction and getting the seed vee closed. I think the greater thing some will deal with is making sure there’s moisture where the seed is placed. I recommend putting corn and soybeans in the ground at 2”. That may seem deep for beans but our UNL research found 1.75” seeding depth provided the highest yield for soybean. It also provides buffered soil moisture and temperature conditions when planting soybeans early. Bob Nielsen, emeritus professor at Purdue said corn can be seeded 2.5-3” deep if that’s where uniform soil moisture is located in order to achieve uniform germination and emergence. We don’t recommend planting soybean deeper than 2.5”.
For corn seeding rates, it’s best to check with your local seed dealer as all our research shows that optimal corn population varies by hybrid. However for soybean, our recommendation after 17 years of on-farm research studies (2006-2023) in heavier textured soils and 30″ rows continues to be: plant 120,000 seeds/acre, aim for a final plant stand of 100,000 plants/acre and you’ll save money without reducing yields. If that seems too risky, try reducing your rate to 140,000 seeds/acre or try testing it for yourself via on-farm research!
One final thought, make sure you’re keeping yourself and those in your operation safe by wearing proper PPE when handling treated seed, including filling boxes, when seed gets plugged, or when digging up seed. Seed tag labels will list PPE required for the seed treatments in case you weren’t aware of this. Here’s wishing you all the best whenever the planting season begins for your farm!
Alfalfa Weevils and Army Cutworms have been showing up in some alfalfa fields and it would be good to check wheat and other small grain fields for army cutworms. The last time we saw alfalfa weevils this early was back in 2012. Larvae are green with a dark head and white stripe down the back. They can often be found near the soil during the day. Use a sweep net if possible to detect their presence, and if they are present, randomly select at least five sampling sites from across the entire field. At each site, gently pick or cut at least 10 alfalfa stems at ground level. Shake the larvae off the stems by beating the stems into a deep-sided bucket, also looking for any larvae in folded leaflet tips. Count the larvae and determine the average number of larvae per stem. Economic threshold for the mid-vegetative stages of 10-15” tall are 1.5-2 alfalfa weevils/stem (chart can be found at: https://go.unl.edu/pxhk). Highly effective insecticides for alfalfa weevil control include those that are pyrethroids (active ingredient ends in “thrin”, such as Permethrin) and products containing indoxacarb (e.g., Steward). If you spray prior to harvest, check pre-harvest interval (often 7-14 days).
Vegetables and Lawns
Wishing everyone a blessed Easter! While I won’t get to it this year, there are people like me who traditionally plant potatoes on Good Friday. So, that led me to thinking of lawn and garden things. A vegetable planting guide for our area compiled by Emeritus Extension Educator, Gary Zoubek can be found here: https://go.unl.edu/fecq.
Kelly Feehan, Extension horticultural educator shares, “Late March through April is typically the time to plant cool season vegetables. These vegetables germinate and grow in cooler soils and can tolerate light frosts. They include onions, potatoes, radish, lettuce, carrots, beets, peas, broccoli, and cabbage.
A tip for growing large onions that store well is starting from transplants instead of sets. Plants grown from sets may begin blooming in mid-summer. Once this happens, bulbs will not grow larger. Flowering happens because onions are biennials. They grow foliage and a bulb the first season, then bloom and set seed their second season. Growing sets for sale counts as one season and so plants from sets are primed to bloom when growth resumes in our gardens.
When growing onions from seed or transplants, plants are not primed to bloom the year we plant them. Some garden centers and catalogs now sell onion transplants for this reason. If you prefer to start from sets, use dime size or smaller sets as these are less likely to bloom the year of planting.
Potatoes are planted in April, sometimes late March or early May. A tip for increasing potato yields is hilling potatoes after they begin to grow. Once they are 12 to 20 inches tall, carefully scrape soil up around the plant to create a hill.
Potato tubers grow on stolons, underground stems, above the roots. Hilling provides more space for tubers to grow and maintains cooler soil temperatures, especially if hills are mulched. As a cool season crop, cooler soil will increase tuber production.
If potato hills are spaced closer together, tubers grow smaller. If hills are spaced farther apart, tubers grow larger. The recommended spacing is 12 inches between hills and 3 feet between rows. The 12-inch spacing will result in smaller tubers. An 18 to 24 inch spacing will result in larger tubers.”
Soil Temperatures can be found at: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/soiltemperature. This is helpful for knowing when to plant vegetables, when to plant crops, and what the soil temp is when applying fertilizer to fields. It’s also helpful for homeowners to wait to apply crabgrass preventer for lawns until soil temps are at least 50-55F for 5-7 days straight. In spite of the warmer temps, it’s far too early for crabgrass preventers!
Lawn Seedings: For those who didn’t seed or overseed turf grass last August-September due to the dry conditions, aim to seed or overseed as soon as possible. Weed control can be a challenge with spring seedings, but a new product has helped with this. I tried it last year and it worked well for me. Just know that your weeds will turn white in the lawn. “Scotts Turf Builder Triple Action Built for Seeding” (blue bag) contains fertilizer and the herbicide mesotrione which provides PRE and POST control of weeds without affecting the new bluegrass or fescue seeding.
Male birds: To keep male birds from attacking your windows upon seeing their reflection when they’re establishing territories, consider placing a thin layer of liquid dish soap on the outside of the window. It can easily be washed off in late spring but will protect your windows and the male birds.
JenResources 