Weekly Field Report

Posted on May 29, 2009 by Latham Team

Central Iowa
Bart Peterson reports that corn is 100% planted in his area, with seedlings ranging from the V1 to V4 stage of growth. Soybeans are 98% planted, with seedlings ranging from the VE to V1 stage. He hasn’t seen any insect pressure at this time.

Northeast Iowa
Tom Larson says that planting finished last week in the western part of his territory, while planting is just getting underway in the eastern part. Plots went in fast and furious. By the end of the weekend, there were just a few areas that still have beans to plant. A few acres of corn were replanted in areas where the ground was wet to start with and then developed a crust on top. Frost also set back some corn acres. He also has noticed some Pythium in soybean acres where seeds were planted in less than ideal conditions; a seed treatment on those early-planted acres would have helped.

Central Iowa
Bob Collins reports that planting is almost finished in his area. Most of the corn is up and looking good. A few early planted bean fields are up, too. He’s not aware of any insect problems yet, but some of the corn needs to be sprayed to control the grasses.

Northwest Iowa
Bruce Anderson says planting is 99% complete with corn coming up well with good stand. The soil has a good amount of moisture accumulated, which will help in July. Spraying will begin soon with as some grass is growing at the end of corn rows.

West Central Iowa
Planting is pretty much complete in Travis Slusher’s territory. Corn is looking good and he hasn’t yet seen any insect pressure. In the southern part of his territory, fields received about an inch of rain this past week. Those in the northern part received about three inches of rain.

Eastern Iowa
Corn planting is 99% complete and beans are 95% complete in Brad Beatty’s territory. Emergence has been good for both corn and soybeans. He hasn’t noticed any insect pressure yet, but he says they’re probably a week out from seeing cut worm. He also says it’s time to get out and start scouting for weeds, so you can keep them under control.

East Central Iowa
Wayde McNeil’s territory of Jasper, Poweshiek, Marshall, and Tama counties has received anywhere from one to three inches of rain this past week. Planting is complete, and the corn and beans are growing well. He hasn’t yet noticed any insect pressure.

South Dakota
Bill Eichacker says the southeastern part of the state is pretty much finished with planting while the northern part is struggling to get seeds in the ground because due to the wet spring and flood waters from North Dakota. For those farmers who have been able to plant, it’s time to scout for black cut worm and take care of any weed problems.

Minnesota
Jason Obermeyer reports that corn planting is done. He says that emergence is good on most fields, though the fields with high amounts of trash look a little more uneven due to cooler soils. Soybean planting is nearly finished. The cold snap about 10 days ago dinged some soybean fields that were emerged, mostly in areas of lower elevations, so sporadic replants may need to be done. Post emerge spraying on corn will begin in earnest this week.

Nebraska
Brian Banks reports that corn is up to 4 leaf in areas. Some post herbicide applications are under way. Soybeans are up to unifoliate, but most are just emerging. There may have to be some replanting of soybeans this year, but definitely not for the reasons we had last year. Some beans had enough moisture to sprout but then the high temps and 40 mph winds last week dried them out so bad that stands are thin. Rains have continued to be spotty. Isolated areas get some rain but overall eastern Nebraska is well below average for rainfall. Many growers are running pivots to get the beans up and to keep the corn from drying up already.

Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin- Week Ending May 24

Posted on May 28, 2009 by Shannon Latham, Vice President

Here’s the latest planting update excerpted from the May 27 USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (for week ending May 24):

Corn: By week’s end, 82 percent of this year’s corn acreage was planted, 4 points behind last year and 11 points behind the 5-year average. The largest push in progress was made in Illinois, where producers took advantage of warm, sunny conditions and planted 42 percent of their crop during the week. Emergence advanced to 52 percent complete, 4 points ahead of the previous year, but 19 points behind normal. Under favorable growing conditions, the most development was seen in Minnesota and Nebraska, with 31 percent of the crop emerging in both States.

Soybeans: Forty-eight percent of the Nation’s soybean crop was planted by May 24, one point slower than last year and 17 points behind normal. The most rapid progress was made in Iowa and Wisconsin, where producers planted 39 and 32 percent of their acreage during the week, respectively. By week’s end, 17 percent of this year’s crop had emerged, compared with 12 percent a year ago and 31 percent for the 5-year average. The most development was evident in the Delta States of Mississippi and Louisiana, where emergence had reached 73 and 64 percent, respectively.

Black Cutworm Alert – Scout Your Fields

Posted on May 27, 2009 by Mark Grundmeier, Product Manager

Latham is a partner in the Iowa State University Extension Corn and Soybean Initiative. That means we get timely alerts when any farming condition emerges that could impact a number of growers.

We recently received an alert about possible emergence of black cutworm in Iowa. The alert is reproduced below. Also, we have a simple spreadsheet calculator available for estimating stand-loss threshold of black cutworm as insecticide is applied.

Just give me a call at 1-800-798-3258 or email me at mark@lathamhybrids.com and I’ll be glad to send you the calculator document and explain it to you. For example, one simple calculation on the spreadsheet shows a corn stand planted at 32K plants per acre with an expected yield of 200 bu/acre at a market price of $6 per bushel and receiving insecticide application at a cost of $15/acre could realize an estimated loss of 400 plants per acre, or 1.25%.

Black cutworm to start cutting May 24: scouting is advised

From Iowa State University Extension Corn and Soybean Initiative

Black cutworms could start cutting corn May 24-26 in the southern two-thirds of Iowa, and the first week of June in the northern three tiers of counties. Growers should scout for cutworms as soon as corn emerges, paying special attention to late-planted or weedy fields.

Most at-risk fields:

• Late-planted
• Reduced tillage
• High weed populations – especially of winter annuals
• Near natural vegetation areas
• Poorly drained or low-lying, such as in the floodplain of a stream or river.

Damage signs
• Small, irregular holes in leaves (from young, above-ground larvae feeding)
• Cut stems or clipped leaves (from older larvae, in 4-6 instar – usually feed underground at night)

When scouting

• Examine 250 plants (50 plants in five locations) weekly until corn reaches V5.
• Check for wilted, discolored or damaged leaves and missing plants.
• If damaged leaves are found: dig around the base of the plant and look for larvae. If soils are dry or crusted, larvae may burrow to moist soil and move to new plants.
• Flag suspected “hot spots” and monitor larval feeding (or lack of it) for a few days.

Economic Threshold & Treatment Options
•Economic thresholds for black cutworm were adjusted last year due to higher crop value and corn stands.
•A tool to calculate treatment thresholds for stand loss will be published in ICM News next week.

To tell black from dingy cutworm larvae

Both feed on corn, but dingy cutworms rarely cut leaves. Black cutworms have two prominent tubercles (dark bumps) of differing sizes on each body segment; dingy cutworms have two of the same size.

Long story short: Black cutworms may start cutting corn May 24 in the southern two-thirds of Iowa. Scout for corn as soon as it emerges, especially in late-planted, weedy or reduced tillage fields. Use the attached threshold calculator to determine the best treatment for your fields.

Source: Erin Hodgson and Jon Tollefson, ISU Department of Entomology

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