July 24, 2012

Paul Hay, Extension Educator in Gage County:  Corn is drying so fast that silage will not be an option for most dryland beef producers. They need to look toward baling these fields after crop insurance appraisal. Gage County was released yesterday for CRP. First 265 acres are up ….in smoke. A swather caught on second round and the entire 265 acres is gone. Tractor, swather, and operator are safe. (7/24)

Jeff Bradshaw, Extension Entomologist at the Panhandle REC, Scottsbluff: Last week I had a number of phone calls concerning thrips and dry beans as well as a mystery armyworm in Colorado that had defoliated two pivots of sugarbeets.

Sunflower Moths. Also, sunflower moth numbers are quite high this year. Along with the heat stress, I think our sunflower crop could be in trouble. At the very least, I would want producers to go out and scout their fields now for sunflower head moth -- particularly in early planted sunflower. The threshold for sunflower moth is one to two moths per five plants. For more information on treatment options, check the Kansas State University web page on sunflower moth.  (7/23)

Doug Anderson, Extension Educator in Keith, Arthur, and Perkins Counties:  Things are critical here for rain-fed anything.  We will have some rain-fed corn, but will also have a lot of fields baled for feed.  There is some grazing in some locations. We need
rain for alfalfa, but I don’t think we will get a response from pastures which are already brown with a few little green spots.  Cattle must be moved rather quickly from area to area to prevent over grazing. Feeding on pasture is happening with
range cubes or cake.  Some alfalfa is being spoon-fed, but the greater fear is a hard winter with a long feeding period.  Alfalfa is short and we wish we had back tthe many loads that went south.  (7/23)

Karen DeBoer, Extension Educator in Kimball, Banner, and Cheyenee Counties: It is still very dry here and the heat and drought are taking a toll on the crops. I haven’t heard of any pest problems besides grasshoppers. Rainfed crops are the hardest hit and so are pastures. There is some tillage of summer fallow and application of anhydrous ammonia going on fallow for wheat to be planted this fall. Some weed spraying.