Boots In The Field Report

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken gives a harvest report of yields coming in across the state and comments that combine operators are saying the big swings in yield in a field are coming from the swings in stand throughout the field. Yields are expected to improve in corn fields as growers move to later planted corn that had less weather obstacles at the beginning of the season. The good September weather is helping gain depth of kernel which helps offset some of the tip abortion loss from earlier in the season. Ken calls combine operators to have two main things on their to-do list: calibrate their yield monitor and check for harvest loss.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken covers the harvest reports coming in and the highlights from his recent Iowa / Minnesota crop tour. He reports Northern Iowa and Southern Minnesota seem to be the heaviest of Tar Spot Alley this year. Several areas had a challenging July and August but a favorable September. If plants could stay healthy long enough to take advantage of September, growers might be presently surprised at harvest. Ken also encourages pest teams to watch how fields are drying down to help inform harvest order.

Ken Ferrie recaps 2,700 miles of crop touring over the last week on what he saw on the way up to Canada and coming back.  He also reports April planted corn locally is hitting black layer and causing some growers to think about harvesting soon to cash in on premiums. Ken additionally comments on how corn that is stressed now, is hustling to black layer and that will come at the cost of grain fill.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken covers tip loss, spider mites, northern leaf blight and diseases increasing later in the season in corn fields. He also covers sightings of SDS and white mold in bean fields. Ken talks with Matt Duesterhaus to see what he has been seeing in Western Illinois. 

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken gives a crop report from his trip to Ohio and back and on conditions he is seeing locally. Due to the late planting and tight water margins a lot of final yield potential is riding on the last 30 days of fill and making it hard to make accurate yield estimates right now. Ken also warns about heavy spider mite pressure due to weather and spraying taking out all its natural predators and tipping the balance in the mite’s favor. As always Ken reminds growers not to walk away from a growing crop, especially this year

Most areas got at least a little rain last week, but some got too much and in some areas it came with heavy winds. While the fields that took heavy wind in June still had growing potential to lessen the effects of the goose-necking and neighboring plants in the green snap areas could adjust ear size or throw a second ear to account for additional sunlight, it is too late in the season for either of those things to do much good for the fields that got wind last week. As Ken was looking at crops that reached R3 and beyond, pollination is showing more uneven than first thought, mostly due to heat stress. In beans, he is seeing waterhemp escapes and both Japanese beetle and the stink bug invade.  All this and more in this week’s Boots In The Field Report.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie tells how water in the next 60 days will tell the rest of the story, how despite being able to pollinate in 5 days the heat wreaked some havoc on even pollination, and warns about checking for spider mites in the corn before spraying a fungicide.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken covers how quickly pollination is going, the increasing need to spray for silk clippings, why shorter corn might be a good thing come this fall, where tar spot has been reported and why even though it is later in the calendar year than last year, why it would be considered coming in earlier in plant maturity. He advises pest bosses to be scouting low on that plant as most will be home grown and warns that we may be looking at mid to late October for harvest.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken covers how we are progressing compared to normal, what to look for now before the corn tassels, and reminds growers about staying on top of aphids, spider mites, and rootworm. He also warns about fields showing resistance, which areas need to be on higher alert for tar spot, and advises growers to take care of the waterhemp in beans before the seedbed gets out of control.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken touches on fields recovering from wind and hail damage, explains why L1 hybrids will take the biggest hit, and reminds growers to never walk away from a growing crop, especially this year. He also warns growers in the dry areas to stop mowing ditches and for pest scouts to be on the lookout for corn borer, western bean cutworm, rootworm, and Japanese beetles.

Ken Ferrie starts this week’s Boots In The Field Report with a fishing recap, followed by a crop report of how crops looked on the drive. He talks heat stress and what that means for these rolled up corn plants, and what pests to be on the lookout for. And despite a lot of farmers not getting into the fields to plant beans as early as they would like, he is still seeing pre-solstice flowering in several fields. Ken also puts out the call for those seeing tar spot to call the sightings into the office so we can keep tabs on it.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken covers nitrate levels, carbon penalty, cutworm, rootworm, and armyworm flights, and crop deficiencies showing up. He breaks down the difference in nitrogen, sulfur, and zinc deficiencies and how they present in the corn plant. Adding nitrogen to a sulfur deficiency can make the problem worse, so it is important to know which one you are facing. He also covers yellowing beans fighting the carbon penalty and why replant beans might be showing it more than older beans.

This year may go down in the books as some of the best corn stands Ken has seen, with the corn coming up in 4 days and even emergence. In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken covers the nitrate values coming back, indicating we are in the middle of the carbon penalty period. As the soils warm up, doubling the microbe population every 10 degrees, it creates a draw down on nitrogen supply. He warns that growers will possibly see yellow or pale green corn and even bean plants. This is a chance to evaluate your nitrogen plan for timing and see if it is working to not let your corn have a bad day. Cutting has started and with the price of corn Ken recommends moving the threshold from 3% to 1.5% on when to act. He also warns about bean leaf beetle feeding.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie reports the ground that didn’t get hoed but is struggling to get make it out of the ground might have to be hoed twice and that still might not be enough to help the plants break through the crust. Replant decisions need to be made quickly with facts and not emotion. Ken reminds growers they will need to know both stand count and ear count when factoring in if they should replant. He also advises using their own knowledge from their hybrid fix/flex plots and the hybrid yearbook to help guide what number to use for bushels per ear when penciling out replant decisions. There is a replant calculator on our website to help guide these decisions. Ken also alerts pest scouts to be on the lookout for cutworm the end of this week.  

Cold wet weather has brought planting progress to a crawl. In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie warns growers about ground getting hard with recent rains causing planters to ride out of the ground and concern for crusting on crops already in the ground. He also covers how row fresheners can help with the less than desirable seed bed conditions and warns about running spring strip-till this late in the season with potential of drying out the soil and causing salt burn to the seed.  Next week looks promising for planting and Ken advises growers to plant corn when they can plant corn. The loss to delaying corn planting at this late of a date far outweighs any advantage that can be gained by planting beans trying to gain an early planting advantage.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report, Ken Ferrie discusses the closing window for achieving early planted beans. While there often isn’t a yield difference between strip-till and no-till beans, this year might prove to be the exception. Strip-tilling may create a 2-3 week earlier window for planting which may allow an opportunity for some pre-solstice flowering that the no-till couldn’t take advantage of because it was too wet to plant. Ken warns to switch from beans to corn when it is fit to plant corn, but not to jump the gun because replant decisions could be more costly this year than in normal years.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken warns growers getting antsy about getting in the field to make sure the calendar, coffee shop talk, nor neighbors are the deciding factor but rather your own investigation of fields to see if they are fit. A spring compaction layer can take the top yield potential out of field before you even get the seeds in the ground. He also reminds growers that are looking at calling an audible at the line and switching crops to make sure you have evaluated the whole process before making the change.

Ken starts this Boots In The Field Report with a recap of insects to be on the lookout for and then dives in with Matt Duesterhaus, breaking down how to evaluate bean maturities for different regions and planting dates when striving for pre-solstice flowering.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie covers seed test results and what pest scouts should be on the lookout for including: 13-lined ground squirrel, voles, wireworm, cutworm, and armyworm.

In this week’s Boots In the Field Report Ken Ferrie covers rootworm resistance and how the pressure has been increasing over the last couple of years.