Extension Update from Jenny Rees

UPCOMING EVENTS:  
July 6-9:  Clay County Fair
July 6-10:  Nuckolls County Fair
July 10-11:  Youth Tractor Safety Class, 8am, Grand Island College Park (308) 385-5088.
July 10-15:  Fillmore County Fair
July 12:  Turf Field Day, 8 a.m., UNL East Campus, http://turf.unl.edu
July 17:  Crop Science Investigation (CSI) for youth, 5:30 p.m., RSVP to jrees2@unl.edu or 402-440-4739
July 18:  Crop Management Diagnostic Clinic:  Soil Health, ARDC (now ENREC) near Mead, 8-4pm RSVP http://ardc.unl.edu/cmdc.shtml
July 26-30:  Polk County Fair
July 27-30:  Hamilton County Fair
Aug. 2:  Crop Management Diagnostic Clinic:  Precision Ag Training, ARDC (now ENREC) near Mead, 8-4pm RSVPhttp://ardc.unl.edu/cmdc.shtml
Aug. 3-6:  York County Fair
Aug. 8:  Soybean Management Field Days, North Platte
Aug. 8-9:  Nebraska Grazing Conference, Kearney
Aug. 9:  Soybean Management Field Days, Ord
Aug. 9:  Nebraska Cover Crop Conference, during Lancaster Co. Fair at Fairgrounds
Aug. 10:  Soybean Management Field Days, Auburn
Aug. 10-13:  Seward County Fair
Aug. 10-13:  Thayer County Fair
Aug. 11:  Soybean Management Field Days, Tekamah
Aug. 18:  Rain Garden Installation Design Workshop for landscape professionals, Earl May in Columbus, Contact Kelly Feehankfeehan2@unl.edu
Aug. 23:  Crop Management Diagnostic Clinic:  Soybean Production Training, ARDC (now ENREC) near Mead, 8:30-5pm RSVPhttp://ardc.unl.edu/cmdc.shtml
Aug. 24:  Crop Management Diagnostic Clinic:  Corn Production Training, ARDC (now ENREC) near Mead, 8-4pm RSVPhttp://ardc.unl.edu/cmdc.shtml
Aug. 24:  York County Corn Grower Plot Tailgate, 5-7pm, 1416 Road I, York County.

Farm Finance Clinic Sites and Dates To sign up for a clinic or to get more information, call Michelle at the Nebraska Farm Hotline at 1-800-464-0258.

Crop Updates:  The rain was a blessing for all who received some and much needed! A few fields even have beginnings of tassels showing right now! Soybeans are beginning to flower or in late vegetative stages. This week I also witnessed female palmer plants shooting seed heads at the soil level from plants that had been burned back to the ground. During pesticide trainings, I shared that the research shows palmer can still produce 22,000 seeds at the soil surface, 36,000 seeds from a 1” stem, and 129,000 seeds from a 6” stem.  I hadn’t seen the reality of seed production from the soil surface till this year and it’s surprising how much I’m seeing it in farmers’ fields.  It also could be observed at the South Central Ag Lab weed science field day this week, regardless of herbicide program used.  This weed is incredibly concerning to me.  For those of you who were unable to attend the field day, the theme from the plots was clear:  both pre- and post-herbicide combinations with residual are necessary for good weed control.  And, unfortunately, it also appeared that a few palmer escaped most of the programs.  So walking fields to remove them for a zero tolerance on this weed may become something to consider as one plant can produce an average of 500,000 seeds and one plant on a field border can produce up to 1.8 million seeds. 

Small grasshoppers are also found in field borders.  There are several tables regarding thresholds and insecticide options in the following UNL CropWatch article:  http://go.unl.edu/tmuv.  The best time to control them is when they’re small like this.  Bob Wright, Extension Entomologist shares more in the following Market Journal video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz7pRY33lIU&feature=youtu.be.

I’ve also received some dicamba drift concerns onto roundup ready soybeans and so far, they’ve been primarily from applications that occurred to corn that drifted.  Preliminary research from Dr. Steven Knezevic, Extension Weed Scientist looked at damage to V2 and R2 soybeans, both Roundup Ready and Conventional.  At R2 (full flower), the untreated control yielded 71, 78, and 70 bu/ac for the Dicamba tolerant, Roundup Ready, and Conventional soybeans respectively.  At 1/10 rate of dicamba damage, yields resulted in 71, 19, and 15 bu/ac for the Dicamba tolerant, Roundup Ready, and Conventional soybeans respectively.  At 1/100 rate of dicamba damage (equivalent to 1 tsp), yields resulted in 72, 66, 58 bu/ac for the Dicamba tolerant, Roundup Ready, and Conventional soybeans respectively.  At 1/1000 rate of dicamba damage (equivalent to 1/5 tsp), yield results were 72, 75, 73 bu/ac for the Dicamba tolerant, Roundup Ready, and Conventional soybeans respectively.  As producers who may have purchased dicamba tolerant beans this year are making applications, the following CropWatch article has recommendations to consider in addition to the stewardship requirements:  http://go.unl.edu/xseo.

Nebraska Grazing Conference:  The Ramada Kearney in Kearney, NE will be the site for the 2017 Nebraska Grazing Conference on August 8 and 9. Presenters will address issues of interest to beginning and experienced graziers, land managers, and policy makers. Those concerned with the utilization and conservation of our grazing lands will also find this conference of interest.

The registration fee to attend the full conference is $80 if completed before August 1 or $100 if completed after August 1. Full registration includes lunch each day of the conference and supper at an evening banquet, as well as a copy of the proceedings manual. Registration options are available for those unable to attend both days of the conference. Reduced fees are available to full-time high school and college students. To learn more about the conference and to register please go to http://grassland.unl.edu/current-conference.