June 1, 2012

Gary Zoubek, Extension Educator in York County: It's been dry, but last weekend we finally had a millioin dollar rain.  We received 2-3 inches mixed with some reports of hail.

Jeff Bradshaw, Extension Entomologist at the Panhandle REC, Scottsbluff:  We have some young grasshoppers from the second hatch and populations could be getting heavy in parts of Garden and Sheridan scounties. I have received some reports of alfalfa weevil damage in alfalfa.

Wayne Ohnesorg, Extension Educator in Madison County:  From Wednesday of last week (5/23) through Tuesday of this week (5/29) I measured a total of 4.1 inches of rainfall in my gage in Norfolk. Some areas have received more while others have received less. Prior to the rain many producers were busy spraying fields. Most planting is done in the area.

Keith Glewen, Extension Educator in Saunders County:  We've had isolated cases of millipedes, thousands of them, causing stand establishment problems in soybeans. In some cases the stands have been reduced to the point that replanting was warranted. In all cases it was in high residue, no-till environments. (See May 25 CW for more information.)

Drew Lyon, Extension Western Nebraska Crops Specialist, Panhandle REC, Scottsbluff: It's quite dry and corn growers are watering up the crop with gravity flow and sprinkler irrigation. Wheat is in its high water use stage and badly needs rain. Fallowed wheat is faring a little better than that which followed a crop. Some corn is up in the Platte River Valley, while planting continues in other areas. Dry beans haven't been planted yet, but soon will be.

Kathy Buttle, USDA NRCS, Scottsbluff: Rain is so spotty out here that we've been lucky to see a light sprinkle now and again. We had almost no snow and now we have had less than an inch of rain this spring. For the past three months we have had 30-40 mph winds most days. We planted oats and peas in late March and they came up and burnt off. Even the weeds aren't growing. The pastures aren't greening up and they are hauling cattle out.

Keith Jarvi, Extension Educator in Dakota, Dixon, and Thurston Counties:  We got a reasonably good rain over the weekend with some hail. The Wayne area had 2 inches and others reported more.  It's been a long time since we've had this kind of rain, but even with it, the soil moisture profile is 1-3 inches short. Corn is up, soybeans are mostly up, and farmers are spraying. Even if we get normal rainfall from now on out, we could have a lack of soil moisture by pollination. Unless we get a lot of extra rain, we won't get those top yields this year.

John Wilson, Extension Educator in Burt County: We had been quite dry, but received 3-4 inches of rain in the last 10 days. We also got some hail, but damage should be limited as the growing point of corn was still below ground. Planting is basically done. We've had some minor cutworm feeding, but nothing near treatment thresholds.

Gary Lesoing, Extension Educator in Nemaha County: Conditions are very dry. Our last significant rain was May 6. Corn still looks surprisingly good.  We had good rains over winter that soaked in since the ground wasn't frozen.  There have been reports that brace roots aren't developing in corn in some areas, corresponding to areas that were particularly dry last year. In Richardson County we're seeing some insects and centipedes. Alfalfa has stopped growing in some areas. We don't have a lot of wheat but what we do is turning.