Aug. 27, updated Aug. 30, 2010

Tom Dorn, extension educator in Lancaster County:  Most soybeans are at or beyond the R8 to R9 growth stage. Some beans planted at high plant populations are very tall, but only have 30-40 pods per plant with an average of 2.8 beans per pod. I visited one field of soybeans with Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS). It was worst where the gated pipe leaked at the fitting and kept the soil wet down the row. Corn is fully dented and the milk line is at or beyond 40-50% down the kernel. Most corn ears that I have examined have 16 or 18 rows and 32 to 37 kernels per row. Assuming normal kernel size and assuming 27,000 ears per acre, the yield potential is 154 to 200 bushels per acre.

Jeff Bradshaw, extension entomologist at the Panhandle REC at Scottsbluff:  Numerous calls continue regarding grasshoppers. There is a high level of awareness about the risk of grasshopper problems in newly planted wheat. Regardless, some growers are still planning on beginning wheat planting next week.

Blister beetle populations continue to be quite high in western Nebraska Therefore, horses should only be fed first-cut alfalfa.

Some locations in western Nebraska are reporting high numbers of spider mites. The dry weather is likely contributing to this high number. Also, because of the wide use of some pesticides (e.g., pyrethroids and carbaryl) for grasshopper control, some areas may have severely reduced their natural spider mite predators.

Karen DeBoer, extension educator in Cheyenne County: Surface soil is drying out due to hot temperatures and strong south winds. Rainfall is needed for dryland crops such as corn and sunflowers. Proso millet is turning color and is ready to be swathed in some areas. Farmers are tilling fallow ground, fertilizing with anhydrous ammonia, and preparing the seedbed for planting winter wheat in the near future. Irrigated crops look good. Farmers are using wheat variety test information from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in their variety selection for next year's wheat crop.

Stephen Young, weed ecologist at the West Central REC, North Platte: I had a call from a grower in southwest Nebraska who was having difficulty controlling kochia with glyphosate in a field of wheat stubble. He was interested in knowing whether there was a way to "get more of the glyphosate into the plant."  

Interestingly, most glyphosate formulations already contain a surfactant, which enhances activity and subsequent uptake and translocation within the plant. A more aggressive approach for dealing with this type of situation (i.e., tolerance to glyphosate) is to 1) tank mix, 2) rotate crops, and 3) rotate herbicide modes of action. For more information on resistance management (herbicide), see the UNL Weed Science website.