Latest Updates from cropwatch.unl.edu

The plastic from recycled containers is used to make industry-approved products such as pallets, drain tile, underground utility conduit, landscape edging, and nursery pots. Instead of adding them to a landfill, consider recycling your containers this year.

Approximately 61% of the state’s corn was planted as of Sunday, according to USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. This is well ahead of 30% last year and 38% for the five-year average. Emerged was 9%, ahead of 1% last year, and near the average of 5%.

Originating in Eurasia, field bindweed was introduced into the United States as a contaminant in farm and garden seeds in the mid-1700s. It has been reported in every state in the United States and is a noxious weed in 22 states.

Let’s state the obvious: this isn’t a typical year and we all know it. This article will discuss how to build a marketing strategy to assure that the farm continues to the next crop year.

The introductory training course is for summer employees working in the agricultural industry, as well as corn and soybean growers wanting to learn how to better manage corn and soybean pests.

Free legal and financial clinics are being offered for farmers and ranchers at seven sites across the state in May 2020. The clinics are one-on-one meetings with an agricultural law attorney and an agricultural financial counselor.

Palmer amaranth in conventional soybean field is difficult to control (Photo by Amit Jhala). With the depressed corn and soybean prices in recent years in the United States, growers have shown interest in conventional soybean. Herbicide programs should be selected carefully that provide season-long weed control.

Photo by Richard Ferguson This spring conditions are good for pre-plant fertilizer, but there are still considerations that justify shifting more nitrogen application to in-season versus pre-plant.

Scouting in early spring is the best way to categorize current weed problems and those that may become issues later in the season and into the following year.

Approximately 20% of Nebraska corn was planted as of Sunday, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. This is ahead of 12% last year, and near 16% for the five-year average.

Corn planted into green cereal rye in 2020. Growers that switched to planting green, say it was much easier to plant compared with planting into the decomposing-dying cover. In spite of these observations, planting green is not for everyone and one needs to assess the risk of doing so.

It takes a number of warm days (a week or more depending on temperatures) after freezing to determine the condition of the winter wheat crop, so don’t make any quick decisions after a freeze.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act is working to help alleviate the strain many businesses and individuals have under the current circumstances. This article gives information on guidelines announced for partnerships and Schedule C’s.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) may be in short supply, regionally or nationally, in the 2020 growing season. What can people in Ag industry do to prepare?

Figure 1. Location by county (shown by red fill) for soybean seeding rate studies through the Nebraska On-Farm Research Network from 1990 to 2019 based on the resultsfinder.unl.edu database. Counties with studies not currently in the database are noted by red lines and have been reported in CropWatch articles. The Nebraska On-Farm Research Network has shown that a seeding rate of 120,000 seeds per acre has performed well across counties, farms, and fields in Nebraska.

This year remember to be safe when handling treated seed and check the seed tag for specific handling and use directions.

Recently, two nutrient management tools produced by Nebraska Extension have been updated and are now available.

Applying a pre-emergence herbicide with multiple sites of action is particularly important in fields where herbicide-resistant weeds are present or suspected.

April freeze nips alfalfa. Extent of damage varies based on numerous factors, but no management actions are recommended.