Northwest Research and Outreach Center

Northwest Research and Outreach Center
2900 University Ave.
Crookston, MN 56716
Phone: 218-281-8604
Fax: 218-281-8603
quirk010@umn.edu

Cropping Issues in Northwest Minnesota: July 8, 2008

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Upcoming Red River On-Farm Yield Trials - Small Grains

A series of five plot tours to review the University of Minnesota’s Red River On-Farm Yield Trials and Wheat Fungicide Research will be held July 14 -21, 2008 at locations throughout the hart of Minnesota’s wheat-growing region.

Northwest Research and Outreach Center Annual Field Day

Thursday           July 17         Registration at 8 a. m.

Additional, Upcoming Plot Tours

Soybean Plots   --  Fosston   --   July 30
Soybean, Corn, and Fertility Plots  --  July 31  --  Crookston
Corn Fertility Plots  --  August 1  --  Ogema

Tips to Reduce Fertilizer Expenses this fall

In the last Issue, George Rehm referred to a conversation with a farmer in WC Minnesota about fertilizer purchased this fall, the price per pound of N will be somewhere between $0.53 and $0.64. To save money on fertilizer without hurting yields, you can do a number of things.

Ag Calculators for Crop Input Decisions

While checking bookmarks for useful tools on the internet, the following links were noted under the American Crystal Agronomy Tools web site. Many of the tools they have provided are specific to sugarbeets, but the Fertilizer calculator and RoundUp calculator should be useful to all.

Additional Tebuconazole Formulations Registered for Wheat and Barley

Things have come a long way since January ‘08 when EPA let it be known that tebuconazole would not likely receive a Section 18 exemption for this year. Since then, several changes have led to tebuconazole receiving a Section 3 label for wheat and barley in May. Now, additional tebuconazole formulations are receiving EPA approval for supplemental labels allowing the use of other brands.

Watch for Potato Leafhopper

Potato leafhoppers cause damage by piercing the stem and underside of the leaf with its stylet and feeding on plant sap. As it feeds, it injects phytotoxic saliva into the plant, which restricts the flow of carbohydrates within the phloem, and causes the wedge-shaped yellowing commonly called “hopper burn”.

Soybean Aphids Showing Up in Typical, Early Hot Spots

Field scouting soybean fields across the region is turning up soybean aphids in the fields. The populations are small, but some infested plants, particularly on field margins, have some strong colony development (one large momma aphid and 10 to 20 of her babies) in plant terminals. These early infestations are most likely to be found in smaller, well protected fields where wooded border areas have buckthorn present.

Grasshoppers – Jumping onto the scene

Several locations in NW MN have reported grasshoppers.  Surveys have turned up a mixed bag of species, most of which are not usually agriculturally damaging species but a couple of the species typically thought of as agricultural pests have been recovered as well. 

In This Issue

July 8, 2008

2008 Issues