Hi all. I want to introduce our intern for this summer, Andrew Kilburg. We look forward to Andrew’s weekly reports from the field.  –  Shannon

I am Andrew Kilburg and I just completed my sophomore year at Iowa State. I am majoring in Agronomy and Agriculture Systems Technology, and this summer I will be an intern at Latham Hi-Tech Seeds. One of my duties will be posting weekly blog updates on planting progress for corn and beans, stages of growth, and any weed or pest issues.

It sounds like central Iowa is pretty close to completing corn planting, and has a good start on getting the beans planted. Travis Slusher says “they need a day or two to finish up with planting corn.” Central Iowa has received rain this past week which has kept farmers from the fields.

In northwest Iowa, progress sounds good. Bruce Anderson says“95% of corn is in the ground and 80% of beans are planted.” Growth of corn also looks good in NW Iowa with 75% of the corn up and able to be rowed. Sounds like there isn’t any insect problem yet, but Bruce has heard there is a possibility of cut worms that could hatch around the 22^nd of May. He also says that alfalfa and pastures are growing great. He said the forecast for next week looks to be in the 70’s with a couple days is in the lower 80’s.

Jeff Weier in Western Iowa has reported that planting progress is coming along great. He says “99% of corn is planted with 30-40% of the corn being in the V2 stage of growth”. He also said “the beans are about 50-60% planted, and if the weather holds out this week farmers could begin to finish up with beans.” He hasn’t seen any bug or disease issues yet.

In Wayde McNeil’s territory of Jasper, Poweshiek, Marshall, and Tama counties in Iowa, corn planting is pretty much 100% done with most of the corn in the V1 stage and some in the V2 stage. The beans in his territory are 80% planted. He hasn’t seen any bug or disease problems yet. On Sunday May, 17 he said there was a slight frost, but didn’t cause any damage.

In Eastern Nebraska Brian Banks is saying the bean planting is coming along good with a few spotty rain showers keeping some farmers out of the fields. He says “that some beans are starting to emerge this week, and if things go well most farmers will be finishing up this week. Most of the corn is in the V2 stage.” He hasn’t seen any bug, disease, or weather related issues yet. He did say “they are a little behind average with GDD’s at this time.

In South Dakota Bill Eichacker is reporting that planting is happening earlier than previous years, although the northern part of the state is lagging behind due to flooding and rains.

Bob Colins in Central Iowa reported that corn is pretty much all in the ground and beans will be finishing up in 2-3 days. He hasn’t seen any bug or disease issues at this time.

Brad Beatty around Benton County reported that 95% of corn is planted and 60% of beans are planted. The biggest issue in his territory is the cold soil temperatures. He said “some of the corn is rotting instead of growing, so farmers will have to evaluate to see if they need to replant.” With the cold weekend we just had he thought that most of the corn should be fine, but the few beans that have already emerged will also have to be evaluated to see if replanting is necessary.

Jason Obermeyer in Minnesota reported that all corn planting is done and beans should be finishing up this week. He hasn’t noticed any widespread bug or disease issues. Most of the corn has emerged, and all they need is some warmer temperatures to help with growth.

John, Shannon and Chris Latham are now the proud owners of Latham Hi-Tech Seeds. We’ve purchased the soybean business from other Latham family members and combined it with our Latham Hi-Tech Hybrids seed corn and alfalfa company.

We’re thrilled to offer the best seed technologies from multiple trait developers in corn, beans and alfalfa to our customers through our “best in the business” staff of technical, marketing and consulting personnel. Click here to read the news release.

Stay tuned as Latham Hi-Tech Seeds evolves!

The beginning of July means potato leafhopper season is upon us. Many farmers question how to judge when leafhoppers have reached threshold and when spraying an insecticide is a wise choice. Here are some tips to help you in scouting your fields and arriving at a decision.

Scouting should begin five to seven days after the first cutting is taken from the field and should continue on a weekly basis (or bi-weekly if population counts reach close to threshold on a particular day). Check for stunting in the plants, yellowing of the leaves in a v-shaped pattern beginning at the leaf tip, as well as a “hopper burn” or red edge found on the leaf. This red burn can be easily confused with a Boron deficiency. However, finding the insect can confirm the cause.

The easiest way to scout for these insects is to use a small sweep net. Walk a W-shaped pattern in the field, and take sweep samples at five randomly selected areas. Leafhopper infestations generally begin on the edges of the field so be sure to include these areas in your checks.

To correctly sweep, test each of your five areas following these steps:

• Swing the sweep net in a 180-degree arc so the net rim strikes the top 6 to 8 inches of growth. Each 180-degree arc is one “sweep.”
• Take a sweep from right to left, walk a step, take another sweep from left to right, and so on.
• After taking five sweeps, quickly close the net and count the number of leafhoppers.
• Divide this number by five to get the average, and record these averages for each of the five areas in the field.
• If alfalfa is two or more weeks from harvest, consider applying treatments when leafhopper counts reach five leafhoppers/ sweep (adults and nymphs).
• For fields scheduled to be harvested in 10 days to 2 weeks, consider treating if hopper counts reach 10 leafhoppers/ sweep.

If you’re looking for another solution to help boost yields in your alfalfa fields, ask your Latham representative about the company’s new hybrid alfalfa with the msSunstra® technology. Latham Hi-Tech Forage hybrid alfalfa is shown to outperform conventional varieties by 10-15%. More information about hybrid alfalfa is also available on our website.