Ag briefs & field reports

• Corn planting has begun for 2006 on hill ground in Nemaha County and likely will begin in much of the rest of the state in one to two weeks.
• With recent rains and snowfall, soil moisture has improved significantly across much of Nebraska.
• Winter annuals seem to be particularly troublesome and getting a healthy start given the favorable conditions. (See next week’s CropWatch for more information on combating winter annuals in no-till cropping systems.)

The greening up of winter wheat fields with this week's warmer temperatures and good moisture was a welcome sign of spring. (Photo by Brett Hampton)

John Hay, Extension Educator in Pierce, Madison and Wayne counties, reporting for northeast Nebraska: Snow and rain have combined for more than 4.75 inches of moisture in some places, making the creeks full and fields a bit wet. Low lying areas have standing water, but this is no different from previous years. A lot of manure and some dry fertilizer were applied before the recent rains and I hope most is still in the fields. Some winter weeds are coming up, possibly more than last year. I would expect to see planters out in the next week or so in some areas. There was a lot of talk about how dry the winter was, but 4.5 inches later we have a good start for the production season. Let’s hope it keeps coming. Planters are out and being readied; planting is likely to start in the next two to three weeks.

Kent Been, Extension Educator in Red Willow County, reporting for southwest Nebraska: Recent snowfall and rains have slowed field work but soil moisture has improved considerably. Wheat condition is good as most fields were topdressed with fertilizer prior to the March 20 snow. Pasture green up has started and is looking acceptable.

Dave Stenberg, Extension Educator in Dawson County: Some field work has begun with fertilizer application, stalk shredding and discing. Row crop planting has not started. Some alfalfa and oats have been seeded. Some alfalfa fields have been slow to green up because of armyworms. Varied rainfall amounts of up to one inch have fallen in the past two days.

Ralph Anderson, former Extension Educator, in Buffalo County: Rains Thursday night were scattered but welcome. Farmers are anxious to get into the field, but no one is complaining about the recent moisture. Winter annuals are getting a start in wheat, alfalfa, and no-till fields.

Ralph Kulm, Extension Educator in Holt and Boyd counties in northeast Nebraska: This appears to be a good year for winter annuals, especially in old stands of alfalfa. Producers didn’t get excited about controlling them early enough and now herbicide options may be limited. We received another 1-2 inches of precipitation Thursday night. In this area, there’s very little anhydrous being applied any more, due to adding soybeans in a rotation, having nitrogen in the water, and being able to add nitrogen through fertigation.

Keith Glewen, Extension Educator in Saunders County in southeast Nebraska: It is amazing how the moisture situation has reversed since January. We’ve had 3 inches of moisture in the past 10 days, plus a big snow prior to that. Producers are feeling much more optimistic and will be ready to roll as soon as things warm up. Producers have reported an increase in winter annuals (henbit, pennycress and tansy mustard) in no-till fields. Growers should have addressed this problem last fall before good spring rains created an optimum environment for weed growth. Every year we implement more no-till, but fail to provide timely control of winter annuals, adding more seeds to the seedbank.

Gary Zoubek, Extension Educator in York County: We received 0.75 inches of rain last week and some farmers feel as it they’re behind. Many are putting on anhydrous and are ready to plant.

Gary Lesoing, Extension Educator in Nemaha County in southeast Nebraska: Like several others, we’re seeing major winter annual problems in no-till fields. Seed is being distributed, anhydrous is going on and as soon as we get a few sunny days, planters will start moving.

Bob Klein, Extension Crops Specialist, West Central REC in North Platte: Recent rains and the wet snow improved subsoil and topsoil moisture in much of the area, however high winds in some areas have further exasperated dry conditions. Landowners near reservoirs that have been dry since last fall are complaining of blowing sand covering their yards and roadways and sandblasting their homes. In areas where there’s been moisture, wheat is in excellent condition. Fertilizer dealers have shared that although wheat prices are looking pretty good, producers are cutting back on their fertilizer. There has been a major shift to liquid fertilizers here, as in other areas. Corn planting is expected to begin about April 17, weather permitting.

Drew Lyon, Extension Dryland Crops Specialist at the Panhandle REC in Scottsbluff: Recent moisture followed by warm temperatures has resulted in rapid growth of winter wheat in the Nebraska Panhandle. There is a lot of good looking wheat in the region, but that is not to say that all the wheat is in great shape.

A windy and mostly dry winter did result in some wheat stand loss, predominantly on north and west facing slopes. Some wheat stands were spotty as a result of dry conditions at seeding time last fall. It appears that this was more of a problem with wheat that was seeded with drills equipped with disk openers rather than those with hoe openers. Drills with hoe openers were able to move enough dry soil out of the furrow to allow seeding into moist soil. Despite these problems, most of the wheat looked good. Some fields looked a little yellow, which was probably the result of low nitrogen fertility. Most of the damage is on older leaves, so new growth should cover it up in a couple of weeks.

Copyright 2006 by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. All rights reserved.

Published by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperating with the counties and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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