After months of drought some areas of the Panhandle have now received 6-9 inches of rain in the last three weeks. This week Extension specialists recommend how to compensate for the late planting date.

September 27, 2013

Wheat Production

• Recommended Adjustments for Delayed Planting of Winter Wheat. Winter wheat is best seeded by Sept. 10-15 in the Panhandle. Growers still needing to plant or replanting again should increase seeding rates and phosphorus and use narrow row spacings to compensate for delayed planting.

Soybean Production

• Select Resistant Soybean Varieties to Manage Disease Threat. If you have a history of SCN, SDS, phytophthora root and stem rot, sclerotinia stem rot, or brown stem rot in your soybean fields, one of your best management options occurs this fall when you buy seed.
• Manage Soybean Harvest Timing and Moisture to Improve Yield. Capture top yields by harvesting soybeans in a timely manner and at or near 13% moisture.

Corn Production

• Bt Corn Hybrid Traits and Refuge Requirements. A range of products are available with efficacy on a variety of insects. Order the right trait for what you need.

Dry Bean Production

• Why Direct Harvest Dry Edible Beans? In recent years more growers in the central High Plains have been moving toward a single-pass, direct harvest of dry edible beans instead of the conventional method of undercutting or rodding, windrowing, and then combining. UNL dry bean experts discuss the system and data from on-farm research trials. (Links to UNL Panhandle site)

Farm Management

• Should You be Thinking Differently About Your Farm Taxes?  With the high farm profitability of the past four to five years, tax planning has taken on a new challenge for producers. Yesterday's tax strategies don't make sense for many of today's farm businesses. The executive director of Nebraska Farm Business, Inc. looks at changes to consider before the end of the tax year.

Market Journal

• Roy Smith Looks at What to Expect from Grain Markets. Also, Al Dutcher shares his forecast for the coming week and an executive with the Federal Reserve in Kansas City shares his economic outlook.

Crop Reports

• USDA: 36% of Nebraska Corn Mature; 67% of Soybeans Drop Leaves. Corn silage harvest continued as did dry bean harvest in western counties.

IANR & Extension Programs

• Stumpf Family Gift to Support Ag Research at the University of Nebraska. A generous gift of more than $3 million provides UNL with the potential to take wheat breeding and cropping systems research to a new level of innovation not seen since the early days of plant genetics.
• UNL Water Symposium and Conference Oct. 15-16 in Lincoln. The Tuesday symposium will focus on "Changes: Climate, Water and Life on the Great Plains." The Wednesday Water Law Conference will focus on Nebraska water law for attorneys and water professionals.
• UNL's Ag Almanac Features Radio Spots on windrow grazing, preventing the spread of weeds in imported hay, and the importance of preparing sites this fall for conservation tree plantings. (external link)

With Scottsbluff National Monument in the background, a fog rises over the North Platte River early this week. The field of dry beans in the foreground has been cut and windrowed and is waiting to be combined.  (Photo by Gary Stone)