Latest Issue

Pest Management

Wooly Bear — Photo credit; UNL Entomology

Woolly Bears in Late Maturing Soybean Fields

High numbers of woolly bear caterpillars are reported in some soybean fields in south central Nebraska. Pay particular attention to late maturing soybean fields. These act as a magnet for woolly bear caterpillars and many other insects.

Harvest Safety

Stanton volunteer firefighters respond to a combine fire in 2016.

Practicing Fire Safety at Harvest

Stay safe from harvest equipment and field fires by maintaining equipment before you start, cleaning out embedded residue as you go, and making preparations to respond should a fire occur.

IANR & Extension

Market Your Crop Residue Using the Crop Residue Exchange

This interactive, online tool helps farmers and cattle producers connect and develop mutually beneficial agreements to use crop residue and forage cover crops for grazing.

Digital Agriculture Team Launches New "FarmBits" Podcast

The podcast will seek to present information about digital agriculture in a way that is accessible to non-experts with a well-rounded perspective that takes the shine off of new technologies.

Webinar to Discuss Economic Impact of Nebraska Agriculture

A webinar scheduled for noon on Oct. 1 will present the findings of a recent University of Nebraska-Lincoln study on the impact of the Nebraska agricultural production complex.

Subscribe to the CropWatch Podcast

Is it normal for the top of corn to die before the rest of the plant? Join Michael and Tamra for the answer to this question and more. This week’s podcast is on late season corn diseases.

Farm Management

Free Farm and Ag Law Clinics Set for October

Free legal and financial clinics are being offered for farmers and ranchers across the state in October 2020. The clinics are one-on-one meetings with an agricultural law attorney and an agricultural financial counselor. For the time being the clinics are being conducted as conference calls or as Zoom meetings.

Crop Reports

link to Extension Crop and Pest Reports article

Extension Crop and Pest Reports (Sept. 21-25)

Extension educators report on what they are seeing in the fields this week in Nemaha, Seward, York, Hitchcock, Hayes, Frontier and Red Willow counties.

N Field Observations for This Week

This week, Brad Schick talks about fall grazing cool season pastures, Wayne Ohnesorg discusses insect management in your bins and John Thomas takes a look at sugar beet harvest in northwest Nebraska.

Nebraska Crops Maturing Ahead of Averages

Nebraska corn was 65% mature, well ahead of average, and 10% harvested as of Sept. 21 according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Soybean dropping leaves was 82%, well ahead of average, and 10% harvested. Dry bean harvested was 62% and sorghum was 49% mature.

In Case You Missed It...

Check Stalk Quality of Corn Going into Harvest

Poor stalk quality can cause stalk lodging and breakage, leading to harvest difficulties. This could cause yield loss and create issues of volunteer corn for next year's crops due to ears lost from lodged corn.

Harvest Aid Herbicide Options in Soybean

As we get close to soybean harvest, some herbicides can be applied as harvest aids (desiccant) to desiccate weeds and improve harvest operation. While weeds can interfere with harvest equipment, some producers see the benefit of a harvest aid in creating a more rapid and efficient harvest.

Seeding Rates for Broadcasting Cover Crops Into Late-season Corn and Soybean

The middle to end of September is a good time to establish cover crops by broadcasting seeds into corn or soybean before harvest. Broadcast interseeding before harvest allows cover crops to capture more sunshine, growing degree days and rainfall than drilling after harvest.