Agronomy
What's Happening in Your Field?
Agronomy Update From Kirt Watson
CORN
Majority of our corn is at the 3 leaf stage and expect it to be at the V5 stage next week. This is the stage the corn crop will be determining its yield for the year. With the rain and hail we have been having, I would expect a greater chance for diseases this year and strongly encourage you to put a V5 fungicide on to keep your plants healthy. You can add a fungicide in with chemicals to help clean up any weed pressure in the fields and maximize your yields. We have seen some cutworm activity throughout our territory but haven’t seen enough pressure to justify a rescue treatment at this time.
BEANS
Soybeans are just emerging and able to row. In some areas we were able to get a pre-emerge chemical on but many bean fields do not have chemicals on them and are starting to get weedy. We have seen some glyphosate resistant weeds throughout our territory such as marestail, kocia and waterhemp. We strongly suggest adding another chemical in with the glyphosate this season such as 3 oz of Resource or ½ oz of Cadet to help control these weeds that glyphosate is struggling on. Spraying fields the next 2 weeks will be critical so weeds don’t become too tall and tough to kill.
ALFALFA
In our Franklin and Red Cloud areas, we are seeing a heavy infestation of Alfalfa Weevil. First indications of an alfalfa weevil are small holes chewed in leaves. Once further damage has occurred, entire fields will have a gray or white appearance. Adults will reenter fields during spring and lay eggs on the leaves. Weevils in the larval stage measure about 3/8 of an inch and are green with a white stripe down the back and have a black head. Adult weevils are 3/16 of an inch long and are light brown with a dark brown stripe down their body.
We are recommending many fields to be sprayed with 4 oz of Mustang Max. By controlling the weevil, we should be able to maintain the nutrient value of your alfalfa this summer.
Alfalfa Weevil in Larval Stage Adult Alfalfa Weevil
UNL Cropwatch
http://cropwatch.unl.edu/web/cropwatch/archive?articleID=5155080
4R Nutrient Stewardship
Two CPI employees, Bruce Favinger, Board Chairman, and Ty Fickenscher, Precision Ag Manager, were recongnized as top advocates for The Fertilizer Institute's 4R Nutrient Stewardship program. This is just one of exciting things haping in this program at the moment. To learn more about what these men are doing as advocates in action, check out the 4R Website.
CPI has also been listed among the Nutrient Stewarshipt Partners. As one of only a few retail-only companies on the list we are in pretty good company progressing forward on this project. To get a complete list of the partnering companies and their impact on pushing this program forward Click Here
AVAIL - Phosphorus Fertilizer Enhancer
Research over the last 8 years has proven that Avail added to a dry or liquid Phosphate fertilizer increases P uptake from 5-25% to 75-90%. It shows increased yields 85% of the time in the 5-15% range on all crops regardless of soil type or climate. Click here for more info
NUTRISPHERE - Nitrogen Fertilizer Enhancer
20% - 100% of your nitrogen can be lost through
1. Volatilization
2. Nitrate Leaching
3. De-Nitrification
NutriSphere-N helps overcome these causes for nitrogen loss.