Pasture and Forage Minute: Harvesting Quality Hay, Weather Stress on Forages
July 14, 2021
Tips for harvesting quality hay, assessing hail damage in perennial forages, and heat stress effects on alfalfa harvest.
Pasture and Forage Minute: Making Decisions on Weather-damaged Crops, Summer Grazing Precautions
July 7, 2021
Considerations for selling wheat straw during increased demand, avoiding hazards that accompany grazing summer annual forages, and options for crops that have been severely damaged by wind and hail.
Video: Hail Damage Evaluation and Management in Soybean
Estimating yield losses in soybeans from hail damage is a critical first step for determining the need to replant or to make adjustments on future inputs. As with any hail damage in row crops, it’s critical to wait 7-10 days to allow the crop to respond for proper evaluation. Production loss estimates by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation in soybean can be a combination of remaining plant stand, nodes cut or broken, and defoliation. Beginning maturity and full maturity stage soybeans are evaluated based on the seed count method. Be sure to contact your crop adjuster before making any management decision on a hail-damaged crop. Justin McMechan, University of Nebraska Crop Protection and Cropping System Specialist
Video: Hail Damage Evaluation and Management in Corn
Production loss estimates in corn from hail damage is a critical first step for determining the need to replant or to make adjustments on future inputs. Regardless of crop development stage, it is critical to wait 7-10 days to allow the crop to respond for proper evaluation. Production loss estimates by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation in corn may include remaining plant stand, defoliation and direct losses from ear damage depending on the stage of development. Additional losses and quality issues can occur with fungal infections so continued scouting of hail damage fields is important. Be sure to contact your crop adjuster before making any management decisions on a hail damaged crop. Justin McMechan, University of Nebraska Crop Protection and Cropping System Specialist.
New Late-Season Hail Videos Added to Hail Know
August 24, 2018
This week four new videos were added to the Hail Know section in CropWatch to address crop assessment and management options after late-season hail, including weed management, cover crops, and forage options.
![Corn around V10-11 with leaves stripped due to hail damage. In this case, much of the corn will recover and look better in 10-14 days. Watch stalk bruising to see if stalk rot sets in. There are fields with hail damage at lower stalks with weakened plants that easily break. Soybeans at R1 (beginning flowering) reduced to sticks north of Stromsburg and in Hordville area. Soybeans with damage like this at the R1 stage can have the greatest yield loss in spite of seeing new buds regrowing with the warm weather. Another concern will be weed control going forward. (Photos by Jenny Rees) Hail damaged corn](https://cropwatch.unl.edu/styles/large/public/images/hero/2021/2021-06-25-hail-damage-1.jpg?itok=DP_t3lrp)
Mid-Season Hail Damage Assessments in Corn and Soybeans
June 25, 2021
When severe storms and hail hit your corn and soybean fields, it's important to estimate yield losses to determine the need for future inputs and alternative management strategies. This guide offers steps to evaluate mid-season hail damage and estimate potential yield losses.
Video: 7-Day Time Lapse of Corn Recovery from Hail Damage
As part of a 2015 University of Nebraska-Lincoln research project on the effects of hail on crop development, Justin McMechan used time lapse photography to show how V4 corn recovered during the seven days post hail. McMechan and Roger Elmore, Extension Cropping Systems Specialist, used a hail machine.
Video: Hail Damage Assessment
Be confident in accurately assessing hail damage to crops and the potential for regrowth and recovery or the need to replant with research-based information from Nebraska Extension.