Coming Events
June 30, Tie-Dye T-shirts, 9:30 a.m., Home Ec. Building, York
July 1, Weed Management Field Day, 8:30 a.m., SCAL Lab, Clay Center
July 7 & 8, Rocket Building 101, 1:00 p.m., 4-H Building York
July 13, Clover Kids Animal Camp, 9:00 a.m., 4-H Building, York
July 14, Clover Kitchen, 9:30 a.m., 4-H Building, York
Cropping Update
We’ve had a week without measurable precipitation. I’m hoping it does not become 2, 3 or 4 weeks of the same. Hopefully most area producers have had a chance to get 4 or 5 weeks of things all completed this past week. I know I saw a lot of weed control, hilling, side dressing, harvesting hay, and many other activities going on this past week.
Fellow Educators and I have received a few questions about cultivating and hilling of corn and soybeans to dry the soil out because of all the rains we’ve had in the past. The question is does this practice do any good or does it simply waste energy and increase water losses from the soil? Another question we’ve received is how far has the nitrogen moved in the profile or have we lost some nitrogen as a result of the heavy rains?Â
These questions are perfect opportunities to conduct some on-farm research that’s really easy to do. All you need to do is leave two combine widths or more where you do nothing, then two or more combine widths where you’ve cultivated or hilled and repeat these practices two or three more times. By doing this you’ll have several replications and can obtain great data. At harvest time, you’ll harvest two side by side strips of each treatment so that you’ll have paired comparisons.
You could do the same with a side dress nitrogen study to see if you needed additional nitrogen or two compared two different treatments. For more information ,visit our website: http://cropwatch.unl.edu/farmresearch or give me a call.  I’d be glad to help you plan a study and get answers to these types of questions.
The ETgages I’m monitoring this past week dropped an average of about 1.55†for the week. For the earliest planted corn in the V10 stage, the factor is .69 so we used about 1.07†or about .15â€/day for the week. Later planted corn in the V6 stage, the factor is .35 so we used about .54†or about .08†for the week. Â
To get the latest crop water use go to our Nebraska Ag Water Management Network (NAWMN) web site: http://nawmn.unl.edu. You can then get information from producers posting their ETgage reading or from the automatic weather station data based on stage of growth and this year for sure we have crops in all stages of growth.Â
I’ve installed Watermark sensors in the Corn Grower Plot and another early planted corn field and I just check them and only the sensor in the top foot has dried out about .5 to .7†as of Sunday. The sensor readings indicate we have a full profile at the 2nd, 3rd and 4th foot depths. I’ll try and share the reading each week as we go along with rainfall and irrigation amounts.
Hopefully you’ve got your sensors install and are beginning to read them regularly.
Weed Management Field Day
Just a reminder of the Weed Management Field Day planned for the South Central Agricultural Laboratory (SCAL) be held Wednesday July 1st at 8:30 a.m. with rolls and coffee. Program will begin at 9:00 a.m.
SCAL is located 7.5 miles west of Hwy 14 & Hwy 6 Intersection, or 13 miles east of Hastings on Hwy 6.
Tour 1: Will be “Weed Control in Cornâ€
Stops will include:
1. Comparison of Herbicide Programs for Weed Control in Corn
2. Herbicide Programs in 2,4-D plus glyphosate-resistant Corn (Enlist)
3. Dose response of Acuron applied PRE for Weed control in Corn
4. Anthem Maxx applied PRE in Corn
5. Evaluate Weed Control and Crop Response of Solstice
6. Corvus followed by DiFlexx or Laudis plus DiFlexx for Weed Control in Corn
Tour 2: Will be “Weed Control in Soybeansâ€
1. Comparison of Herbicide Programs for Weed Control in Soybean
2. Herbicide Programs in Dicamba plus Glyphosate- Resistant Soybean
3. Herbicide Programs in 2,4-D plus Glyphosate-resistant Soybean (Enlist)
4. Weed Control in Isoxaflutole-resistant Soybean (Balance Bean)
5. Authority/ Anthem/ Marvel for Weed Control in Soybean
6. Importance of Soil Residual Herbicides for weed control in Soybean
No cost to attend, but to help with meal planning, please register at: http://agronomy.unl.edu/weedresistmg. I plan to attend and hope to see you there. CCA credits will be available.
Yard and Garden
Elizabeth Killinger, Extension Educator in Hall County share the following column on grub control so I thought I’d share it.
“Happy Summer! June 21st marked the start of the summer season. Summer means a good time for cookouts, picnics, swimming, and grub control. Not exactly what you had in mind for summer fun? Knowing the pest and its habits can help keep you from spending all of your summer fun time dealing with grubs.
White grubs are the larvae of a group of beetles called scarab beetles. There are many scarab beetles in Nebraska, but only a few can cause significant damage to turf. The more common ones include the masked chafer, or annual grubs, and the May/June beetles, or three-year grubs. White grubs look very similar. They have C-shaped bodies that are cream or white colored, have reddish-brown heads, and three pairs of short legs right behind the head.Â
There are minor differences between the species, but they all have the same type of feeding patterns. The grubs feed below the soil surface on the roots of all common turfgrass species. They are capable of destroying the entire root system of the plant if infestations are heavy enough. The first signs of grub damage include areas of pale, discolored, dying grass displaying signs of moisture stress. The adult beetles of these grubs rarely cause much damage and are more of a nuisance than anything. Â
Damaged areas are small at first, but will grow rapidly as the grubs grow and enlarge their feeding area. The affected areas may feel spongy and can be easily lifted from the soil surface or rolled like a carpet. Another indicator that your lawn may have grubs is small areas that are dug up by animals like raccoons, skunks, or moles foraging for the insects. Â
A few grubs in your lawn doesn’t necessarily mean that an insecticidal control is needed. There are threshold levels that warrant insecticidal control. For masked chafers 8-10 grubs per square foot and 3-5 per square foot May/June beetles are the threshold levels. If you have more insects than that, a curative treatment will be needed, usually around the first week of August. If you have had a history of grubs in your lawn, a preventative insecticide application the third week of June through early-July will have the insecticide in place when the eggs begin to hatch.
Products for grub control have changed over time. Before 1999 grub insecticides were used as curative treatments. They were fast acting, had a short residual activity and needed to be applied within a narrow treatment window. New types of insecticides are now available that offer the opportunity for preventative treatments. These products are slower acting, but they have a much longer period of residual activity and are available for a much wider treatment window.Â
There are a wide range of products that can be used to treat grubs. Chlorpyrifos (Dusban), carbaryl (Sevin), isazophos (Triumph), Chlorantraniliprole (Acelyprin), Imidacloprid (Merit), and Halofenozide (Mach 2) are just some examples of the products that will work well to control grubs. Trichlorfon (Dylox) can be applied for curative control if white grubs exceed threshold levels later in the season. Be sure to read and follow the label instructions.Â
Keep in mind that no registered insecticide is 100% effective. On average they usually kill 75 to 90% of the grubs present in any given area. Re-applications may be necessary when grub populations get very high.Â
Scouting early and catching the problem before the numbers get too high will help allow you to have a worry free summer.â€
I have a set of three ETgages near the Extension Office that I read each Monday morning. Two are for crops and one is for grass or turf. The grass ETgage dropped 1.25†or the week or. 18â€/day. Our earliest planted corn used 1.07†for the week, so this week turf used more water than corn, but it will change in the next week or two. Also turf uses water primarily from the top foot or foot and one half while corn and soybeans have a three or four foot profile.
As we get into the season when we water our lawns, be sure to not set them on automatic. I manually turn my system on when I want to water the turf.Â
Changing to a couple of vegetable garden questions, I’ve received a few calls and have looked at some tomatoes that have curled and distorted leave that at first I thought it was herbicide damage but upon further examination it I’m thinking it an environmental issue that has been caused by the excessive rains we’ve received. I’m checking with some of our experts and if it’s something else, I’ll share what I find out from them next week.
Now’s the time to be making fungicide applications to protect the tomato leaves. If you have lower leaves on your tomatoes that are yellowing and have spots on them you may want to remove them to reduce the spread of the disease up the plant. The extra air circulation will not hurt. Also be on watch for cucumber beetles and those yellow/white cabbage worm butterflies laying eggs on your cole crops.  Â
York County Fair Volunteers Wanted
It’s nearly the 4th of July, so the York County Fair is just around the corner. The Ag Society is busy making plans for a Bin Busting Event. I believe they’ve got another great fair planned. If you have not picked up your copy of the 2015 York County Fair book stop by our office and pick up a copy. They’re also online at: http://york.unl.edu. The York County Fair webpage is located at: http://www.yorkcountyfair.com/.
Our office and the Ag Society can always use volunteers for a number of important short term jobs. If you’d be interested, give us a call at the Extension Office 402-362-5508. I know we can always use more volunteers on entry day Tuesday even and on Wednesday as we take entries and have the both open class and 4-H entries in Ag Hall judged.
If you might be interested in helping out, give us a call.
