Latest News From Rhonda Brooks

Much of the Midwest is seeing cool, wet conditions while the West is increasingly dry. If you plant in poor soil conditions, you will pay for that mistake at harvest, say agronomists. Their recommendation: be patient.

The case occurred in a person who had direct exposure to poultry and was involved in the culling process of poultry with presumptive H5N1 bird flu, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The fundamentals were already in place, forecasting positive prices for grain. The war in the Ukraine has strengthened that prediction.

Bees, butterflies and other pollinators play a valuable role in food production. Farmers can do their part to protect pollinators by implementing these best management practices.

With these high corn prices, plant corn when conditions are right, says Ken Ferrie. Don't act in haste and set yourself up for corn replant decisions. If you have to push conditions and plant, go with soybeans.

This three-way premix features S-metolachlor, metribuzin and cloransulam-methyl. The formulation controls 70 small- and large-seeded broadleaf weeds and grasses, including Palmer amaranth, waterhemp and lambsquarters.

An adjuvant based on wood waste reduces herbicide drift.

Availability could be a challenge this season. If you can only make one application, pull the trigger between tassel and R3 in corn and between R2 and R3 in soybeans, advises Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

Running a high-speed disk with gang angles can put in compaction layers if soil is too wet. Same thing can happen with wheel tracks from vertical tillage. Make a soil ribbon to evaluate conditions and guide decisions.

Not every product will deliver a positive return-on-investment. But some will and are worth trying out on your farm this season--especially if you're planting early soybeans, says Illinois Sales Agronomist Kris Ehler.

BASF and Bosch are developing new technology for weed management. Their system photographs weeds, signals nozzles to spray and records the data in milliseconds. Farmers then get a map printout for easy reference.

Cases in commercial poultry operations and backyard flocks are mounting across the U.S., a result of infected droppings from migrating birds. The USDA says there are no immediate human health concerns.

Weather conditions can guide planting conditions. The calendar plays a role, too. Watch the brief video on soybean maturities and why night length is so important to the flowering process.

Nick Gordiichuk estimates farmers will plant about 25% of their crops this year. He has no idea when he will get back into fields. Many contain landmines, unexploded rockets and war's debris.

Gear your control efforts toward weeds that emerge when air temperatures are between 40 and 70 degrees °F. These include ragweed species, common lambsquarters, burcucumber, kochia, common sunflower and marestail.

The plan is to capture CO2 from the fermentation process of the plants in a five-state region, compress it into liquid form, then move it by pipeline to North Dakota for storage.

Here's one way to know whether you work with a reputable seed company. Along with that, it's time to put out lures and traps for various pests, including wireworms, armyworms and voles.

The good news is some parched areas are likely to see some rainfall soon. The potential downside: some areas that don't need rain may get some, too.

Preview 2.1 SC herbicide from UPL targets tough broadleaf weeds and will be available for use on about half a million soybean acres this season.

The northern corn rootworm lays eggs that can sit in soils between two and five years before hatching. That complicates control measures.

Scientists expect corn hybrids containing the technology will help farmers regain the upper hand over a variety of above-ground and below-ground pests that current technology is struggling to contain.

The profit estimates are based on fall delivery prices of $6 corn and $14 soybeans, according to Gary Schnitkey, University of Illinois Extension economist and Soybean Industry Chair in Agricultural Strategy.

It's in low supply, and the price is high -- if you can even get it. This checklist can help you get the best weed control outcomes from whatever supply of glyphosate you were able to secure for this season.

The U.S. is "no where near" having 100% of the fertilizer products farmers need at planting, according to The Fertilizer Institute. Soil sampling and good nutrient stewardship principles are more important than ever.

If you’re thinking about cutting starter fertilizer this year because of surging costs, Ken Ferrie has three words of advice: Don’t do it.

Combination herbicides usually include between two and four active ingredients and have become the industry norm, as companies work to help farmers stamp out tough weeds and grasses.

Expect Russia's invasion of Ukraine to dominate the State of the Union address tonight. As for issues affecting agriculture, there may be few details offered, says USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Yield losses of 5 percent are par for the course in second-year soybeans. Pest problems can boost those losses to 50 percent or more.

The new agreement means farmers will have "more choices and additional tools" for integrated weed management. In the process, Bayer remains committed to marketing its current crop systems and developing new technologies.

Many products are hard or nearly impossible to get. If you have any glyphosate, consider how you can get the biggest bang for your buck. It may not be with a burndown treatment.

Here are a few considerations for your 2022 weed controls strategy.  

Play the long game; draw up a plan that pays.

A red zone is defined by the White House as an area with 100 or more new infections over a one-week period. The good news is the rate of new cases is dropping, says Alan Morgan, CEO, National Rural Health Association.

There is a big 'ick' factor with this tick. Hundreds can be found on a person after a 30- to 60-second ATV ride through an infested field, says one researcher. While any animal can provide a meal, they prefer cattle.

A systems approach to weed control can help you prevent weeds and pocket more dollars this season.

There's plenty of disease inoculum in cornfields across the Midwest. It's just a matter of whether Mother Nature will unleash the devastation this season that many farmers saw in 2021.

If you normally use starter fertilizer, keep using it, advises Ken Ferrie. "Five gallons of 10-34-O will give you a bigger kick than 300 pounds of broadcast DAP, due to placement and timing," he says.

Fertilizer is cited as the No. 1 concern. Plus, 45% of farmers say their plans for this spring are being impacted by the tight machinery inventory, according to the Ag Economy Barometer.

Most years you won't see fall anhydrous applications kick-in and help your corn crop until around V6 or V8 when the corn is about knee-high, says Ken Ferrie. This week's podcast offers some recommendations.

USDA currently pegs soybean plantings at 87.5 million acres. Market analysts offer projections both above and below that number and explain their rationale, which includes the South America crop and weather forecasts.

Options to consider include going to no-till or making an equipment change, such as using a row freshener or a vertical harrow.

As you evaluate input options for next spring, here are five steps to size up whether a biological might be a good fit for your farm.

The initiative is designed to help create a unique digital carbon footprint measurement to drive more sustainable supply chains and mitigate the impact agriculture has on the environment.

A USDA-National Resources Inventory report shows soil erosion rates on cropland decreased 35% from 1982 to 2017. Even so, some members of the agricultural community say rates are unsustainable for crop production.

Running a vertical tool now can help break up tracks and ruts your harvest equipment left behind. It can also help you address volunteer corn -- yes, it's likely to be a problem based on corn lost during harvest.

This population of waterhemp is currently resistant to six herbicide groups and is now “activating detoxification genes before the herbicides can do harm," says one researcher.

Open slots and false bottoms are being created as farmers build strips for their spring planting pass.

“The answer to these questions is yes, maybe, sorta,” he says. "One of the things we do know is healthy plants handle stress better than unhealthy plants."

In most scenarios, companies want to incentivize growers by paying them to use regenerative farming practices, especially no-till and cover crops, on ground where they haven’t used such practices previously.

The Clemson EMC Calculator can help you with wet soybeans. With strips and anhydrous applications, focus on building a good seedbed for next spring.