Field updates

Douglas Anderson, Extension Educator in Keith, Arthur, and Perkins counties in the Panhandle District: Field preparation is in full swing, but we're still waiting for rain. Wheat is starting to grow but needs water. Planting hadn't started by midweek.

Bill Booker , Extension Educator in Box Butte County in the Panhandle District: Wheat is just beginning to joint and has shown some injury from the cold temperatures. We can expect frosts to continue for another month. About 45% of the sugar beet acres were planted as of Wednesday. Small beets are in danger of damage from wind-blown soil particle erosion. Producers are just beginning to plant corn. The topsoil is dry and powdery especially where it has been worked, but subsoil moisture is generally adequate.

Steve Melvin, Extension Educator in Frontier County in the West Central District: The past few days we have had lots of wind and blowing soil. Subsoil moisture o.k. Topsoil moisture very dry, even where crop stubble is present. Cool season grasses are greening up but may dry out soon if we don’t get more rain. Oats are planted. Corn planting has begun.

Bob Klein, Extension Crops Specialist in the West Central District: Wheat looks as good as I have ever seen iit n spite of the lack of precipation. The top soil is very dry soil moisture availability is spotty. Windy conditions have not helped the moisture situation. Corn is being planted in southern counties and will come up quickly with the warm weather. We might see some frost damage if there is a cold spell in early May. The percentage of corn and soybean acres is expected to be similar to last year. Producers who may have considered planting more soybeans are staying with corn because of concern about soybean prices and the high demand for corn for ethanol.

Dave Stenberg, Extension Educator in Dawson County in the West Central District: Things look good considering the amount of moisture we’ve received. Planting intentions appear to be similar to previous years with about 180,000 acres of corn and 40,000 acres of soybean expected in the county. There is a large and growing demand for corn in Dawson County, with a Frito Lay plant requiring food grade corn, one operating ethanol plant, and another ethanol plant under construction. When these three facilities are operating at full capacity, the demand for corn will equal the production of Dawson County and the counties that surround it.

Jennifer Rees, Extension Educator in Clay County: Wheat is looking good and has jointed. Subsoil moisture appears where there is clay, but is dry otherwise. Surface soil moisture is dry. There appears to be more tillage this year than last year.

Brandy VanDeWalle, Extension Educator in Fillmore County: On-farm research projects are underway. A sentinel plot for soybean rust has been planted. The subsoil moisture is adequate, but top soil is pretty dry. Corn is about 25% planted.

Paul Hay, Extension Educator in Gage County: About half the corn acres in Gage County are planted and some corn has already emerged. We’ve seen a 10-day shift in the start of the planting season over the past several years. Numerous seed treatments protect the seed and help insure good stands even with early planting.

The primary activity in eastern Gage County earlier this week was picking up tin, following an April 15 tornado that started by upending a new pivot north of Odell and ended by smashing a shed east of Sterling 32 miles later. Nearly 10,000 acres was covered with debris from the tornados, and that has been cleaned up. At one farm a crew picked up debris ahead of the planting operation.

Tip: In the last two tornadoes here, the National Weather Service set the stage with very good accuracy more than eight hours advance notice and county-sized accuracy of the expected location. As the accuracies of these forecasts and timely reports improve, a weather radio might be a very good investment for any farm or ag business operation.

Calving is going quite well and the brome pastures are looking great. Wheat is jointing and most looks very good, with some soil borne mosaic and septoria leaf spot.

Paul Jasa, Extension Engineer, Lincoln: We planted early soybeans for research and demonstration studies near LIncoln and at Soybean Management Field Day sites. We planted the soybeans a little deeper than normal based on results of earlier research. In southeast Nebraska, many spring herbicide applications were delayed this week due to windy conditions. We haven't received rain to activate any preplant herbicides.

Gary Leosing, Extension Educator in Nemaha County in southeast Nebraska: An estimated 40-50% of the corn has been planted and most of the fertilizer has been applied. Some wheat has soil borne mosaic and tan spot was diagnosed in at least one field. Top soil moisture is good. Subsoil moisture is good in no-till. A rain wouldn't hurt .

Ralph Kulm, Extension Educator in Holt and Boyd counties in the Northeast District: Field activity has been limited so far. A few producers are finishing up planting some oats, others are seeding alfalfa. Some corn stalks are being shredded. Planters are out of the sheds and I would guess that serious corn planting will begin this weekend. Most of the corn goes into soybean stubble so very little tillage is necessary. A few circles of early potatoes were planted this past week. Soil moisture conditions are very good and winter wheat is looking good. I haven't seen or heard of any disease problems. A few producers have been applying additional nitrogen to some wheat. Army cutworms are holding back the greening up of a significant number of alfalfa fields. Some producers are treating.

John Hay, Extension Educator in Madison, Pierce and Wayne counties in the Northeast District: There has been a lot of tillage in Wayne County, which received about 2 inches of rain this month. In Pierce County we have received 3-4 inches of rain in some areas. No-tillers are happy with soil moisture levels. About 5% of the corn has been planted.

Del Hemsath, Extension Educator in Dakota and DIxon counties in the Northeast District: Planted sentinel soybean plots a week ago and seeds are starting to germinate – even under corn stalk residue. We have had some precipitation, but winds have dried the topsoil. Lots of tillage going on, and planters are starting to come out.

Tom Hunt , Extension Entomologist at the Haskell Ag Lab, Northeast District: We received rain recently and corn planting is just getting started. Alfalfa in Knox County is about 5-9 inches tall. This week we scouted for alfalfa weevils but didn't find any adults. Ralph Kulm, Extension Educator in County, has reported army cutworm damage in alfalfa n some areas.

There have been reports of moths in some areas, although that doesn't indicate there will be economic damage. Begin scouting fields regularly after certain moths are identified in light traps and scout newly emerged corn for cutworm damage. Cutworms affect only a small percentage of acres,and rescue treatments are more economical than treating all fields with a pyrethroid at planting.

Len Nelson, Extension Crop Variety Specialist, Lincoln: Some seed for the variety trials is still on the boat from Argentina and we've received word that heavy rains may have slowed harvest in Hawaii nurseries.

Tom Dorn, Extension Educator in Lancaster County in the Southeast District: Wheat is generally in good condition. Nearly all plants are beginning to joint. No insects or diseases detected. Alfalfa is coming along well. Plants are 6-12 inches tall and no harmful insects or diseases have been detected. I saw some lady beetles and green lacewing adults but couldn't see what they were finding to predate upon.

Corn planting is well underway and about 25-30 % of the fields have been planted.

Tip: Winter annuals are a major problem in some no till fields and in wheat and alfalfa fields.