FUNDED BY THE ILLINOIS SOYBEAN ASSOCIATION CHECKOFF PROGRAM.

May 2021

Mitigate Spray Drift Damage with Drift App

Putting pen to paper. It’s the first step an applicator takes when spraying their fields each season. The process involves printing paper maps of the fields, calling all of the neighboring field operators to ask what they’ve planted, and refreshing weather apps to track wind speed and direction on the day of application. The stakes are high. While it’s meticulous work, it’s not foolproof and the consequences of off-target drift can be severe. So severe, in fact, that no one wants the liability, and the problem has the unsurprising attention of the EPA, as we all learned on June [...]

By |May 27, 2021|

Ethylene Management for High Yield Soybeans

It has been a refreshing change to drive the countryside, meet with producers and scout fields that have emerged with little to no issues. I believe we can expect replant concerns to be minimal or as expected even with the recent, heavy rains due to excellent stand establishment. This fantastic start to the season is in part because I feel producers across East Central Illinois were able to do all of the following: Plant high quality/high cold germ seed Utilize proven seed treatments Plant on the first “field fit” date Achieve uniform emergence These four items have been a [...]

By |May 26, 2021|

Benefits Of Wheat In Corn-Soybean Crop Rotations

This article was originally published by the American Society of Agronomy. View the original article here.  The United States grows a lot of corn and soybeans. Some researchers think it’s a good idea to add wheat into that mix. Long-term tillage, crop rotation, and nitrogen trial at Ridgetown Campus in Ontario, Canada in early July. Credit: Adam Hayes A new study shows including winter wheat once every 4 years in rotations with corn and soybean can have many benefits. The research was recently published in Agronomy Journal. In 2019, farmers across the U.S. harvested corn from 81.5 million acres of farmland. That’s [...]

By |May 24, 2021|

Weed Control Using The Xtend Herbicide System

*DISCLAIMER: The Illinois Soybean Association does not make product recommendations and is supportive of the safe use of approved technologies available to farmers.* Dicamba tolerant (Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® and XtendFlex®) soybeans are not new, but the labels for approved dicamba formulations continue to evolve. As in-crop applications of herbicide products like XtendiMax®, Engenia®, and Tavium® begin for the 2021 season, let’s review a few of the key label requirements and application best practices. First introduced in 2016, Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybeans (tolerance to glyphosate and dicamba) and the more recent XtendFlex® trait platform (tolerance to glyphosate, dicamba, [...]

By |May 18, 2021|

Weed Control Using The Enlist Herbicide System

*DISCLAIMER: The Illinois Soybean Association does not make product recommendations and is supportive of the safe use of approved technologies available to farmers.* It has been said that “weeds and cockroaches are the only things that could survive a nuclear war.” When it comes to weeds, there is no doubt they have become increasingly challenging to control and they continue to adapt to the cultural and chemical practices that farmers use. Over the years, weeds have developed resistance or at least tolerance to many of the classes of chemistry; new and old. For that reason, Ag research companies have [...]

By |May 18, 2021|

2021 Wheat Crop Reflection

The 2021 wheat crop has the chance of being very good in overall production as well as a very profitable crop this year with the commodity price. To start, the warmer/drier than normal fall allowed the wheat to be planted and emerge in a timely fashion, as well as put on some very decent growth prior to winter. After breaking dormancy in late March, the wheat crop seemed to take off and not look back. Nutrient applications that were made prior to the wheat breaking dormancy provided excellent nutrition for the crop to push through cold, wet, and stressful [...]

By |May 18, 2021|

Pandemic-Induced Supply Chain Issues Still Prevalent

The past 14 months have been extremely tough on all of us. What started as “Two Weeks to Flatten the Curve,” stretched into over a year of unprecedented government lockdowns and restrictions. Thankfully, we have watched the marvels of modern science develop, implement, and roll out a vaccine faster than ever before. Here in mid-May, we are seeing much of the United States open back up or at least being scheduled to open with restrictions lifted. As full of uncertainty as 2020 was, we were fortunate enough to begin the season with fully stocked pipelines of products. In many [...]

By |May 17, 2021|

Do Nutrients Have Parkas?

Many have heard that pH affects nutrient availability in their soil or uptake by the plant. We try to have pH around 6.0 to 6.5 so as many nutrients as possible are in their maximum level of availability (see Figure 1). We’ve learned that managing pH can increase uptake and set the plant up for maximum yield potential. It’s possible to manage pH, but we can’t manage temperatures, so what do various temperatures do to this nutrient availability or uptake? Figure 1. Nutrient availability by pH. This graph shows how the different nutrients are available across various pH levels. [...]

By |May 13, 2021|

5 Tips to Cover All the Cover Crop Bases

Submitted by Illinois Farm Bureau Managing nutrients on farms can be accomplished in different ways, depending on what farmers each have to work with in their fields. Farmers can certainly learn from each other, too, what works and what doesn’t. Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) has a program that helps with that exchange. IFB’s Nutrient Stewardship Grant Program this year features 21 projects across 28 counties, and county Farm Bureaus are hosting field days to showcase how farmers improve soil health and water quality to address the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NLRS) in the state. The first three events were [...]

By |May 13, 2021|

DTN/Progressive Farmer: Liberty Refresher

This article was originally published on DTN/Progressive Farmer. ROCKVILLE, Md. (DTN) -- Glufosinate herbicides, often sold under the Liberty brand, are in higher demand than ever before. Spraying Liberty for the first time this year? Aim for plenty of sun, high humidity, higher temperatures and prioritize spray coverage. (DTN File Photo by Tom Dodge) This year, nearly every herbicide-tolerant soybean trait on the market -- XtendFlex, Enlist E3, Liberty Link and LL GT27 -- contains tolerance to glufosinate. As a result, the number of growers spraying the herbicide for the first time each year is also on the rise. [...]

By |May 12, 2021|
Go to Top