Eastern Nebraska Crop Report: October 31, 2012

The weather has been up and down throughout Nebraska. Scattered showers fell across a good part of the state last week with most locations receiving between .4 to .8 inches. While this rain helped settle the dust, low visibility has certainly been a problem this fall due to dust clouds. There is a lot of exposed top soil since many acres were harvested for silage because of the drought. To avoid losing more topsoil, planting a cover crop is a good idea.

Another challenge is we’ve experienced this fall is weed pressure. If there is enough moisture in your soil profile, you might want to consider a fall-applied residual herbicide. The temperature is ideal for chemistries like Valor, Enlist, Authority Assist, Sonic, etc.

Harvest is wrapping up. There is still a fair amount of irrigated acres yet to be harvested, but we’re on the home stretch. I was very pleased with how Latham® products performed given these adverse conditions. Three new customers in northeast Nebraska told me their Latham® beans were the best performers on their farm. Standability didn’t seem issue with our corn lines. Forage-wise, Latham is on the cutting edge of both traditional and specialty products. I’d love to visit with you about how Latham can improve your feeding operation.

Eastern Nebraska Crop Report: October 17, 2012

Harvest is quickly winding down across Nebraska. Nearly all soybean acres have been picked and a large portion of corn is done. Yields, for the most part, are better than expected. Test weights are higher for the most part. In a year like this, a grower can really see the value of purchasing good seed and not going with whatever is cheapest. I’m pleased to report that Latham is on the upper tier of test weights, standability and plant health!

Latham’s soybean lineup really did well across the board this season, holding on through the drought and not aborting pods. I picked a field of Latham® L3148R2’s under irrigation near Herman, Nebraska that went 79 across a 110 acre field. Latham® 2983R2’s did very well on flooded ground; they handled the tough soil, and regularly out-yielded the some top numbers.

One thing to consider during fall is weed control. There are a lot of late-season weeds starting to come up with warm weather, and this translates to additional weed pressure next year. If a grower can put on a herbicide with residual control, I would strongly recommend it. Because our soils are dry and cloddy for the most part, a residual-type herbicide may not be as beneficial as it normally would. That’s why I’ve been recommending a good rate of Roundup or 2-4D for quick burndown. In my travels, I’ve seen quite a few weed types still hanging in there. I’ve seen an above-average increase in kochia and nightshade, as well.

From the Field Tour Radio Update from John Toft: 10/3/12

Today, Latham RSM, John Toft, was in the field with KTIC 840 AM Rural Radio’s Farm Broadcaster Chad Moyer.

KTIC Interview with John Toft: Click Here