Latest News From Rhonda Brooks

Ken Ferrie says fields with good soil health can have as much disease present as an unhealthy field, but healthy plants handle stress better than unhealthy ones.

Increasingly the members of Congress who hold the primary responsibility of drafting the farm bill come from suburban and urban areas. They need the information and insights farmers are uniquely equipped to provide.

If conditions are good in your area, you won’t have wheel tracks or ruts to deal with. However, you do need to think about a winter burndown to keep fields clean before planting next spring.

Asian copperleaf was found in an Iowa soybean field this summer. Agronomists are evaluating how much of a concern the weed poses to row crops there. It has been confirmed in only one other U.S. location: New York City.

Results are also in from some corn teaching plots planted at the Heyworth, Ill., campus, including four starter plots, a series of sulfur timing plots, plus nitrogen and planting population plots.

This was a familiar scene in fields across the Midwest this season. Not only did volunteer corn impact soybean yields, agronomists say it sheltered rootworm eggs that can overwinter and infest corn crops next spring.

Moisture is needed to temporarily hold the ammonia so it can become attached to clay or organic matter in the soil. In addition, if dry soils are cloddy and do not seal properly, the ammonia can be lost.

As the crop nears black layer, you can determine whether it's going to be the bin buster you hoped for, an average crop or simply "meh." Ken Ferrie says there are several things to look for now.

Harvest is underway with corn yields showing a wide range of results, particularly based on how much moisture the crop received and when it was received. Planting population and stresses also shed light on the results.

Are your corn hybrids undergoing stress 10 to 15 days before black layer and experiencing top kill? That's going to hurt kernel depth and knock off those top-end yields you want to combine.

The 60-plus year-old product is used on more than 70% of U.S. corn acres to control grass and broadleaf weeds.

Use the fall season to get a head start on weed control for next spring.

Farmers looking to gain the upper hand over corn rootworm (CRW) pests have new tools to deploy in the field, thanks to Ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi) technology.

When you go on a 2,700-mile personal crop tour through parts of eight states, you see a lot of corn and soybeans and get a sense of where there will be stellar yields as well as below-average results this harvest.

Janna Fritz, newly named DF Seeds president, speaks to the need for both conventional and specialty seed products that can fuel farmer profitability and also meet consumer wants and needs.

Pivot Bio announced an industry first for farmers this week – the development and introduction of on-seed microbial nitrogen for crops including corn, grain sorghum and spring wheat.

Corteva Agriscience and BASF Agricultural Solutions are partnering to bring the first four-way herbicide-tolerant trait stack, based on PPO chemistry, to the marketplace for soybean growers.

Day 4 of the Pro Farmer Crop Tour is revealing some good to excellent corn and soybean crops in Iowa and Minnesota, along with concerns about drought in corn and the appearance of sudden death syndrome in beans.

The third day of the 2022 Pro Farmer Crop Tour is revealing a lot of average crops in some states, but Illinois and Iowa corn and soybeans are showing some strength.

On Day 2 of the Pro Farmer Crop Tour, scouts see a wide range of conditions in Indiana and Nebraska. Some irrigated corn and soybean fields are performing well, while dryland crops are struggling.

Bayer Crop Science has the first truly new MOA in the herbicide-tolerant pipeline for soybeans in more than 30 years, the company reports.

Dick Billings passed away several years ago, but his wife, their son and granddaughters have been able to build upon his vision for the family’s operation, thanks to a team of farmers and a forestry consultant.

Maverick features three modes of action and application flexibility to help growers address tough weeds, including waterhemp, Palmer amaranth and marestail, and annual grasses.

Trying to control adult CRW beetles can be a losing proposition. But this year, given the amount of population pressure in some fields there is better potential for a return-on-investment, agronomists say.

Soybean cyst nematode can ravage a crop and destroy up to 80% of its yield potential. Two partners encourage farmers to take action between now and early September to address the pest.

Corn needs 1/2" of silk to pollinate. In some cases, the pest pressure in parts of the Midwest is heavy enough that's not happening and is signaling full-blown resistance problems.

Non-GMO soybeans at R2 to R3 are seeing weed flushes. You will 'burn' the beans to get rid of waterhemp, but that's a better option than leaving the weed to flourish, go to seed and fill the seed bank for next spring.

If your traditional approach to fungicide applications in corn is to wait until you see signs of disease pressure, it could be time to rethink your strategy.

Some corn took a beating this week, but it still has a lot of yield potential. Also, register for our Farm Journal Corn & Soybean College. We have all new agronomic topics to help you harvest more grain this fall!

Tar spot and southern rust are increasing concerns and require a proactive management plan. Some fungicides can mitigate these and other diseases while protecting plants from stress. Retailers can guide your decisions.

Corn and soybean yield potential took another hit across the U.S. this past week, according to the USDA Crop Progress Report.

The pest injures corn most often during the VE through V5 growth stages. Timing foliar insecticide applications is critical. They are only effective when the larvae migrate and are exposed to the pesticide.

With little to no diesel readily available to fuel harvest, wheat and other grains languish in the country's fields. One analyst says he expects the global wheat market will be shorted 10 million metric tons.

Figure out which 'sins of spring' are plaguing your cornfields. Also, sign up for Corn & Soybean College. It's just a few weeks away. We have all new agronomic topics to help you take more grain to the bin this fall!

An Oregon case marks the latest in a long line of lawsuits the company has had to contend with in the past few years. Most of the 138,000 cases have come out of the U.S. residential lawn and garden marketplace.

Sizzling heat hit much of the U.S. this week. The NOAA reports May 2022 was among “Earth’s top 10 warmest months,” and that 2022 is the sixth-warmest year on record so far.

Evaluate your crop’s vulnerability to the destructive force of tar spot.

Grower sentiment plummeted to a reading of just 99 in May, the lowest in two years. The dramatic rise in input costs “creates havoc in people’s minds,” says Jim Mintert, report co-author.

Is $20,000 the new $10,000 for farmland values?

Yes, the problem could also be a nitrogen deficiency or even a phosphate deficiency. Check out the photos provided to identify which deficiency your crop is encountering now and determine next steps.

America’s Conservation Ag Movement is hosting a series of farmer-led, in-the-field agronomic events in five states this summer. 

You may need more nitrogen to fuel this year's crop adequately. Also, cutworms are on the move. Ferrie advises dropping your threshold tolerance to 1.5%.

This spring about 100 growers in New York started shipping corn and soybeans to Europe and Africa, via the Great Lakes Seaway system.

You can leave emerging crops alone, run a rotary hoe or replant. Ken Ferrie has developed online calculators to guide decision-making and help remove some of the emotions you might struggle with in the process.

Wet fields have slowed farmers’ planting progress to a snail’s pace in some areas, but that’s had little effect on broadleaf weeds and grasses. Many are growing rapidly in parts of the Midwest.

The president of the American Farm Bureau Federation weighs in on immigration reform and year-round work permits, Waters of the U.S. concerns and support for the new Climate-Smart Commodities Program.

Farmland in parts of Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska, for example, have seen 30% to 40% year-over-year moves up in price. One expert sees no land price weakness anywhere in the U.S. but shares how that could change.

Be proactive and go to the field sooner rather than later. Once that crust hardens, it can hinder or even prevent crop emergence. Either or both will cost you money.

It's also time to consider switching to corn planting if you are unable to plant corn and soybeans simultaneously. Beware of salt-burn risks in spring strip tillage, and start checking soybeans for bean leaf beetles.

When you plant corn does matter, but there are in-season factors that play a significant role in final outcomes as well, according to USDA and agronomists.