2008 CropWatch News Archive

November 26 - December 5

Soybeans: Using resistant varieties to combat diseases
Conservation: Decommissioning old water wells; renovating windbreaks to bolster effectiveness
Management: End of year tax options
High Input Prices: Eliminate one field operation; Giving proper nitrogen credit for legumes in corn and milo rotations; Credit soil for nitrate nitrogen 

October 17 - November 7

Grain Storage: Monitor stored grain condition
Management: Leasing decisions in a volatile market
Weather: Climate change and its implications for world agriculture; Freeze ends crop season; Revitalizing warm-season pastures
High Input Prices: Reduce drying time and energy cost; Reduce on-farm grain drying energy costs; High-speed, high-capacity dryers; repair or replace inefficient irrigation pumping plants; Generic versus name brand herbicides; Integrated pest management; Giving proper nitrogen credit for legumes in corn and milo rotations 

October 3

Pest Management: Test soybean fields post-harvest for SCN
Grain Storage: Selecting the right aeration fan; Estimating corn drying time
Forage: Salvaging green soybeans for forage or green manure; How a freeze affects forages; Thistle control
Soil Fertility: Using poultry litter as fertilizer

September 22

Pest Management: Taking count of soybean stem borer
Weather: Weather and reservoir update; fall forecasts; Threat of frost for sunflowers
Soil Fertility: New university Web site for fertilizer recommendations
Soybeans: Research finds conventional soybeans can offer high yields at lower cost; Bronze soybeans a response to variety, weather
Weed Management: Controlling winter annuals 

September 12

Disease Management: Goss's bacterial wilt widespread
Farm Management: Nebraska crop budgets for 2009
Soil Fertility: Testing corn stalks for nitrogen
Grain Storage: Filling grain bins in layers
Irrigation: Assessing irrigation pumping plant performance
Forage: Liming alfalfa; Last cutting of alfalfa; Controlling leafy spurge in pastures 

August 22 - Sept. 4

Disease Management: Fall strategies for managing Fusarium head blight
Insect Management: High grasshopper pressure warrants concern for winter wheat planting
Irrigation: Conserve center pivot water use
Grain Storage: How much are corn stalks worth in the field? Reduce energy costs for in-bin grain drying and for high speed, high capacity dryers; Residue boosts yields in water-limited conditions
Forage: Forage testing options; Advantages of rye, triticale, or wheat; Spreading manure on alfalfa; Finding higher profits in cash hay opportunities; Testing for hay quality; Managing late summer pasture weeds 

August 15

Insect Management: Aphid populations still increasing; Soybean stem borer active in Nebraska; Scout for 2nd generation bean leaf beetles and 2nd generation European corn borers
Soil Fertility: Soil testing for wheat

August 8

Insect Management: Soybean aphids increasing
Wheat: wheat profits could narrow as input prices increase; UNL records best wheat variety test results ever; New wheat varieties; Selecting the right seed mix for your operation; Balancing risk with complementary varieties; Virtual wheat variety tour online; Problems when wheat follows wheat; Scab found in wheat seed samples; Wheat seeding rates; Recommended planting dates; How reds and whites get mixed
Disease Management: Rust diseases continue and goss's wilt increases; Control of pre-harvest volunteer wheat critical to virus management; Wheat seed fungicides
Weed Management: Controlling winter annual grasses in winter wheat
Forage: Preparing seedbeds for late summer grass and alfalfa planting; Thickening existing alfalfa stands; Removing hay bales soon after harvest; Planting oats
Farm Management: Nebraska farm real estate value and cash rents higher 

August 1

Disease Management: Southern rust confirmed in southern Nebraska; Other corn diseases
Soil Fertility: University closes Soil and Plant Analytical Lab

July 25

Insect Management: Stink bugs in corn and soybeans; Soybean aphid update
Disease Management: When to apply soybean fungicides
Weed Management: Timely weed control essential after wheat harvest
Forage: Replacing thinning alfalfa fields; Concerns in alfalfa; Flying turnips or rye into corn or planting turnips into wheat residue 

July 11

Disease Management: Bacterial blight common in soybeans Insect Management: Evaluating corn rootworm control
Soil Fertility: Research on fertilizer timing and rates for irrigated wheat; Feedlot manure as fertilizer
Safety: Cleaning and disposing of pesticide containers 

June 27 -  July 3

Wheat: Adhere to application timing and preharvest intervals for wheat fungicides; Rust diseases in wheat; NDA reminder on preharvest intervals for wheat fungicides
Soil Fertility: Rising fertilizer prices reinforce need for soil testing, careful planning Disease Management: Foliar corn diseases developing earlier than normal; Treating hail-damaged corn with foliar fungicides Insect Management: Start scouting for soybean aphids; Scouting and treating western bean cutworms; Links to light trap data
Soybeans: Replanting soybeans; Phytophthora and pythium in Nebraska soybeans; Hail injury and possible soybean diseases
Proso Millet: Chemical weed control in proso millet; Extension proso millet production guide
Forage: Controlling potato leafhoppers in alfalfa; Seeding forages into wheat stubble; Storing hay to minimize losses
Conservation: Grassed waterways a standard for erosion control; proper maintenance contributes to windbreak efficiency; summer weather outlook: equal chances wet or dry; field updates
Safety: Testing and treating flooded drinking water wells; West Nile Virus protection tips

June 20

Disease Management: Wheat scab back; Handling scabby wheat with mycotoxins
Soil Fertility: Assessing nitrogen loss due to saturated soils
Farm Management: Crop insurance options for storm-damaged fields; Selecting a reliable contractor to fix storm damaged buildings
Insect Management: Begin scouting for 1st generation European corn borer moths
Irrigation: Checking irrigation pumping plants
Forage: Controlling summer grasses in alfalfa; Growing quality alfalfa hay to meet market demand

June 6 - June 13

Weather: Replant options after corn preemergence herbicide; Flooded fields, problems, and applications; Weather update, Reservoirs filling; Corn and soybean replanting options and issues
Forage: Replanting crop fields to forages; tips for delayed alfalfa harvest; Controlling thistles in pastures; Controlling postemergence weeds in alfalfa; Why it's important to make hay while the sun shines
Irrigation: Measuring soil water status using Watermark sensors; Estimating crop evapotranspiration; Using water and energy more efficiently for irrigation; Decommissioning water wells; Changes in irrigating dry beans
Disease Management: Distinguishing between wheat head diseases and other disorders; Fusarium head blight found in Lancaster and Saunders county wheat
Insect Management: Stink bugs damaging corn; Alfalfa weevil predictor map; Selecting the right glove for safe pesticide handling 

May 23

Disease Management: Fusarium head blight in wheat alert
Insect Management: Pink form of pea aphid found Nebraska alfalfa; Alfalfa weevil predictor map; Early season corn insect; Staying safe when transporting pesticides; using UNL's Plant and Pest Diagnostic Clinic
Corn: Identifying problems with shallow planted corn
Forage: Match hay harvest timing to livestock nutrient needs

Weed Management: Weed competitiveness in soybean; Controlling buckbrush; Hoary vervain and other pasture weeds

May 16

Wheat: Wheat condition, diseases, fungicides
Insect Management: Alfalfa weevils feeding
Weed Management: Timing post-emergence weed control in corn; Controlling volunteer corn, Velvetleaf, Common mullein; Insects influence timing of weed management in soybeans
Forage: Preservatives affect hay moisture

May 9

Soil Fertility:  Examining high phosphorus prices and UNL recommendations; Wheat: Wheat disease update; USDA wheat forecast; Wheat plot tours scheduled for June
Insect Management: Scout for alfalfa and clover leaf weevil; Lock up pesticides to prevent poisonings
Weed Management: Controlling problem weeds in Roundup Ready soybean with soil-applied herbicides; even pressure a must in calibrating sprayers; UNL weed science Web site; Control winter annual weeds

May 2

Disease Management: With cold wet soils, watch for corn seedling diseases
Weed Management: Parameters for using preemergence herbicides on emerged corn
Forage: Adjusting for late planted alfalfa; Irrigating alfalfa with limited water; Managing spring grazing to reduce excess heading

April 25

Wheat: Managing poor wheat stands in the Nebraska Panhandle; Soilborne mosaic confirmed in wheat
Weed Management: Soybean cyst nematodes now in 45 counties; Fungicide update: quilt label amended; IPM: As important now as ever;  Commodity and input prices on soybean herbicide programs
Insect Management: Pesticide exposure extends to applicator's family
Forage: Options for winterkilled alfalfa

April 18

Soil Fertility: Soil moisture levels improve in west 
Farm Management: new web site a learning tool for using weather information for irrigation; Estimating cost-of-production figures for Panhandle farmers
Weed Management: NDA adds phragmites to noxious weed list under temporary order; Controlling musk thistle and eastern redcedar
Forage: Benefits of switchgrass for hay and forage

April 11

Farm Management: If planting gets delayed, which crop do you plant first – corn or soybeans? Insect Management: Grasshopper potential remains high for some Nebraska rangeland; Scout early emerging soybeans for bean leaf beetles
Forage: short cuts for planting alfalfa; Controlling winter annual brome; Wrapping hay to beat the weather

April 4

Soybean: Soybean seeding rate decrease doesn't hurt yield; Why soybean planting date matters; Soybean seed fungicide treatment
Insect Management: Army cutworm infestations in Panhandle; Crop refuges for insect resistance management
Farm Management: Forward contracts in unsteady wheat markets; Estimating the effect of fuel price increases on your operation; Calibrating a hand-held sprayer; fine-tuning your marketing plan
Forage: Using grass-alfalfa mixtures; Controlled burns on grasslands; Using fertilizer or legumes to boost pasture production

March 28

Soil Fertility: Managing nitrogen; Combining weed and feed treatments
Wheat: wheat condition in western Nebraska; Assessing potential plant damage; Timing wheat fungicide applications; Managing wheat diseases
Weed Management: WeedSOFT Tank-Mix Tool Equipment: Tuning up planters
Forage: Using Rhizobium inoculants for legumes; Early grazing winter pastures; Controlling weeds early in spring-seed alfalfa
Farm Management: Managing financial risk during a boom period

March 21

Farm Management: Average farm land values up 23% in last year; Terminating farm leases
Disease Management: Nebraska at low risk for Stewart's Wilt and flea beetle damage
Insect Management: insecticide update
Weed Management: Glyphosate comparison
Forage: Benefits of applying manure before seeding alfalfa; Make fertilizing pastures pay

March 7

Farm Management: Crop insurance deadline approaching: new issues to consider
Soil Fertility: Value of soil testing and nutrient accounting; Protecting your nitrogen fertilizer investment; Corn nitrogen calculator; Factors for increased fertilizer costs
Insect Management: Product updates: foliar fungicides for corn, soybean and wheat; Proline fungicide added for wheat
Wheat: New wheat herbicides; research assesses nitrogen use and recommendations for winter wheat; brown mid-rib varieties improve quality

February

Farm Management: UNL tools assess profitable planting options
Soil Fertility: Factors affecting fertilizer prices; efficient fertilizer application practices
Forage: Benefits of forages with limited water; Pasture leases in times of drought 
Insect Management: Biological control of insects
Irrigation: Irrigation with limited water; Converting irrigated land to dryland