Agronomy: New booklet gives farmers strategies to reduce nitrogen runoff
URBANA, Ill. – The Midwest, blessed with rich soils and abundant precipitation, leads the country and the world in corn and soybean production. It also contributes the majority of the nitrate load in the Gulf of Mexico, leading to its large low-oxygen “dead zone.” Nitrate applied to farm fields also winds up in local drinking water supplies, which must be removed at a major cost to municipalities. Fortunately, there are ways for farmers to reduce nitrogen loss, and a new University of Illinois Extension booklet provides details on 10 suggested practices. “In this booklet, we present a consistent source [...]
Agronomy: Getting Wheat Off to a Good Start
The success of your double crop enterprises in 2017 begins with planning for and planting wheat this fall. Looking to 2017 and our double crop soybeans begins with a good start to our fall 2016 winter wheat crop. What we do now can have a direct effect on the success of our double crop beans next year. So let’s looks at some time-proven tips to insure success not only in our wheat crop but potential success in out double crop soybeans. First is to ensure that we get a good even distribution of harvested residue this fall. Makings sure [...]
Agronomy: Summarizing the Soybean Season from Southeast Illinois
As I write this, my final report as an Envoy, #harvest16 is in full swing. Corn is all but done here in Southeastern Illinois and soybean harvest is really just getting started. Initial yield reports have been very mixed: the earlier varieties like group 3-3.5 have been not as good as hoped, but the later 3.8-4.5 maturities are much better. As we expected, weed control is still an issue as it has slowed harvest for many. Fall herbicide applications have begun in hopes of getting a jump on weed control for 2017. Many of the trial results for improved [...]
Agronomy: Growing Soybeans in Africa
The ILSoyAdvisor site attracts soybean questions from around the globe. It is a premier soybean management website that is finishing its third season online. There is no advertising and the articles posted are written by experienced experts. We go to a lot of effort to find relevant and timely content about soybean management. Because of this we receive emails from around the globe asking about soybean production, particularly in areas where soybeans haven’t historically been grown. I am left with the task of dispensing some advice on how to produce soybeans in a place I have never been. I [...]
Plant and Soil Health: Are You Applying Enough P & K?
This post highlights material covered in a breakout session sponsored by Wyciskalla Consulting, LLC at the recent ILSoyAdvisor Field Days. To see other posts in this Field Days recap series, click here. Phosphorus is now recognized as one of the most limiting nutrients in soybeans. It’s critical that you test soils for phosphorus and potassium frequently and apply enough nutrients to meet crop removal needs. Remember that corn and soybeans have distinct nutrient requirements, so apply nutrients independently for each crop. Even among soybeans, nutrient needs are not one-size-fits all. A 55- to 60-bushel soybean crop takes up about [...]
Agronomy: Summarizing the Soybean Season from Southwest Illinois
Well, this is my last article as the season comes to a close as a Soybean Envoy for 2016. I’m going to hit a few highlights as harvest progresses in southwestern Illinois. Soybean production faced some challenges which kept our yields below the rest of the state. There have been very few soybean fields harvested at this point. Those fields were planted fairly early and were late Group 3s or early Group 4s. Thus far the yields have been surprisingly good considering the environmental extremes we had this year. The lowest reported yields have been 47 bu/acre, with 58 [...]
Agronomy: New Trait in Soybeans: Chloride Exclusion
Next time you read a soybean seed catalog and check variety characteristics you might see a new trait listed—chloride excluder. An Illinois farmer and ISA director emailed me and asked what chloride exclusion meant. He said he planted Syngenta’s NK 32-L8 variety and the product guide listed it as a “chloride excluder with dependable stress tolerance.” Phil Krieg, agronomic service representative with Syngenta, said “The chloride excluder characteristic is helpful in areas where soil salts are higher, similar to what we sometimes experience in Southern Illinois. It presents no disadvantage to the variety, just an added benefit.” I have [...]
Agronomy: Summarizing the Soybean Season from Northwest Illinois
Weather and weed challenges were the two main issues in 2016; however, yields will still be above average. After record warm and wet periods over winter we moved into a very dry early spring with some areas being more than 10 inches behind normal rainfall by late June. Soybean planting generally went well and early planted soybeans looked best all spring. Weed control challenges began to appear early with escapes of waterhemp, giant ragweed, velvetleaf and even volunteer corn being very common. Weed control failures were driven by a host of issues including inadequate soil residual programs, lack of [...]
Weed Management: Illinois Researchers Confirm PPO Inhibitor Resistance in Palmer Amaranth
Weed control in Illinois is about to get a little tougher for some farmers. Researchers in the state have announced they’ve found PPO inhibitor resistance in some fields of Palmer amaranth. The determination makes Illinois the third state, behind Arkansas (2011) and Tennessee (2015), to confirm the issue. Southern Illinois University (SIU) Carbondale, in coordination with testing by the University of Illinois (U of I), made the determination. Three populations showed control failure after treatment with PPO inhibitor active ingredients fomesafen or lactofen (Flexstar, Cobra). SIU researchers collected tissue samples and submitted them to the U of I for [...]
Agronomy: The Six Secrets of Soybean Yield
This post highlights material covered in a breakout session sponsored by Asgrow/DEKALB at the recent ILSoyAdvisor Field Days. To see other posts in this Field Days recap series, click here. Maximizing your soybean yields starts with proper crop management. Dr. Fred Below at the University of Illinois has been studying the factors that impact soybean production and ranks them by their impact on yield: Weather Fertilizer Genetics Foliar protection (insects, diseases) Seed treatment Row spacing Some factors, like weather, are outside the scope of growers’ control, but should always be accounted for. It’s also important to remember that crucial [...]
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