May 28, 2008

Bill Booker, Extension Educator in Box Butte County: Over the last week, we had almost an inch of rain in some areas. Wheat had been looking purplish, but is looking a lot better now with a little precipitation and several days of warmer weather. We're just seeing the flag leaf in wheat and plants aren't far from heading. While the rain was welcome, we could have done without the wind.

David Stenberg, Extension Educator in Dawson County: We got 10.5 inches of rain Friday night; Cozad got a little less at 6.5-8 inches. Cattle hunkered down and some fields were under water two to three days. While it's drained off some fields, generally the ground is saturated. Bridges and some roads were washed out by the storm, a one in a 1,000 or 2,000 year event. Corn is pretty much up, although some may have been washed out. There's still a question as to whether the soils are so saturated that the plants won't get oxygen. It's too early to tell about the extent of damage to crops throughout the county.

Jim Schneider, Extension Educator in Hamilton County: Most of the corn and soybeans have been planted and one alfalfa field had been cut. We started getting rain Wednesday and it continued in small amounts through the weekend. Beans are starting to come up and about 80% of the corn is up. Corn stands are acceptable, for the most part. The northern part of the county was irrigating last week to break crusts and aid crop emergence; some fields were planted under some pretty wet conditions.

Tom Hunt, Extension Entomologist at the Haskell Ag Lab, Concord: It's soggy here, but not to the extent that it is in other areas of the state. Some beans still need to go in and a few fields are up. We've seen a few alfalfa weevils, but not a lot of other insect pests yet.

Keith Jarvi, Extension IPM, Northeast REC, Norfolk: We received 2.5 inches of rain over the last few days in small rains. I visited with a lot of farmers late last week who planned to finish beans last week. Some low fields — about 5% of the crop — still need to be planted. We had several good days for planting last week.

Michael Rethwisch, Extension Educator in Colfax County: With the rain and cooler conditions last week, growers were concerned about the potential for stem rust. Some are using preventative treatments. We're seeing some bean leaf beetles in early soybeans; not much insect activity in corn. About 90-95% of the corn in, although some may not have been planted under ideal conditions; some fields are up. Some irrigated to break the crust after planting in less than ideal conditions. Still have some wet areas in low spots and fields with poor drainage. Some took their first cutting of alfalfa before the rains and some weren't quite as lucky and their alfalfa is close to bloom. We haven't seen any alfalfa weevils. Last week we did find a biotype of the pea aphid in alfalfa near David City. This biotype is new to Nebraska (see more). With all the rain this year, it's not likely to be a big concern.

Keith Glewen, Extension Educator in Saunders County: About 25% of the soybeans still need to be planted. It's terribly wet here, but planting made good progress last week during a couple days of sunshine. We've had some reports of black cutworm damage in the northern part of Saunders County. Soil temperatures have been pretty cool and emergence has been delayed. Seed corn planting is way behind schedule.

Allen Dutcher, Extension State Climatologist: The next major chance for precipitation this week is late Thursday and Friday. Temperatures should start to rebound to the upper 70s and low 80s toward the end of the week. Next week, there is some potential for precipitation Monday to Wednesday across northern Nebraska, with the line sagging south late Tuesday to Wednesday. Expect scattered thunderstorms June 6 and 10.