Figure 1. Some Merrick County corn fields lost 2%-5% of their stands due to corn leafing out below ground.

Figure 2. No-till soybeans in 15-inch rows planted as part of an on-farm research soybean study in Merrick County.

For results from previous on-farm research studies or information on how you can join this growing trend of conducting your own field tests, see the CropWatch Research page.

Troy Ingram, extension educator in Merrick County: I have covered as much of the county as I could in the past day and a half.  The hardest hit areas of the
county are up by Palmer, just north of Worms, southwest of Central City, and northwest of Clarks. There are probably other pockets that I just did not run across. I just can't cover every area of the county, but I tried to cover what I could. It is amazing to see these pockets where the crops are just devastated and then a section or two over they just look a little windblown. As a producer myself, it really makes me sick to walk these fields and know what these families are dealing with. (6/5/2014)

Troy Ingram, extension educator in Merrick County:  I have a few corn  fields that lost 2% – 5% of their stands due to the corn leafing out underground (Figure 1). Figure 2 shows no-till soybeans in a 15-inch row in an on-farm research study of soybean population. (June 3, 2014)

Jeff Bradshaw, extension entomologist at the Panhandle REC, Scottsbluff: My report is all about wheat stem sawfly. We've had our largest flight that I've seen and perhaps our largest emergence in quite some time. Our wheat looks really good, so it's a little depressing considering that much of our wheat might lodge in July. Little can be done still besides swathing. Some growers in Box Butte County (and perhaps elsewhere) have contracted aerial applicators to treat their wheat borders with insecticides. I'm a little concerned that other pest insect populations could flare if this becomes a regular practice. Growers in northeast Colorado have tried similar spray applications with no success. (June 2, 2014)