May 11, 2007

Gary Lesoing, Extension Educator in Nemaha County:The weekend storms brought 5-7 inches of rain, flooding bottom ground along some creeks. Water was backed up in fields along the Nemaha and Missouri rivers. Much of the water has receded along the Little Nemaha, but fields are very saturated.

Hard rains caused some erosion in the hills, especially where fields had been tilled. In a check of eight wheat fields from the east to the west end of the county, powdery mildew was found in varying degrees in six of the fields.

There is tremendous variability in the condition of the wheat. Wheat that is beginning to head and is fully canopied is most affected by the powdery mildew. In the fields I checked, wheat was in the early boot stage to the head emergence stage. I did some sweeps and found a significant number of bean leaf beetles in alfalfa. Producers might want to check seedling soybeans as they emerge, as there may be high bean leaf beetle numbers that overwintered in our area.