Straight from the Horse's Mouth

Duane A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator, Webster County July 25, 2009 Edition I actually was awakened last night with the sound of thunder and rain hitting the bedroom window. Gosh I wasn’t sure what that was, so went through a moment of confusion, before I rationalized what was actually going on. It seems like ages since that has happened. We actually got about .70 of rain last night. That is the most moisture that we have had at one time since early spring. Oh we have been getting some teasers but really nothing of substance. Unfortunately we have a lot of crops and pastures in south central Nebraska that have suffered and will either not give us the yield you would hope for, or will not have the potential to go full season. Irrigators have already put more water on than usual and I know of several producers who are looking for different pastures or are supplementing their cattle in the pasture already. I know that several producers are looking at making silage out of drought stricken corn, and beans are stunted and behind schedule. Yesterday was really hard on the crops with pineappling of corn and milo and cupping of soybeans. The rain is a welcome reprieve, but one must wonder if it is too little too late. Even grain sorghum is struggling to survive. What is perplexing is that it is confined to a relatively small portion of Nebraska and of course right where I reside and work! Even then it tends to be spotty, with some areas not too far apart differing in how the crops and pasture look. It is finally even being noticed by the US Drought Monitoring system. We actually made the US Drought map and have a brown spot and a big A over us. That isn’t good by the way. That A means that we have affects on our crops and pastures. All they had to do was ask any of us in this part of the country weeks ago, we could have told them that. You certainly can tell it from my lawn! For your interest you might check out http://drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html if you have access to the internet. You would think that with this shortcoming of precipitation that we wouldn’t have any problems with insects and/or disease. Wrong! Perhaps not in the dryland fields but we are seeing some Gray Leaf Spot in irrigated corn fields. This disease has developed earlier and to a greater extent this season than in several years in Nebraska. According to CropWatch.unl.edu since last week, infected plants have been reported with as many as 30-50 gray leaf spot lesions on the leaf above the ear leaf in some parts of south central Nebraska (above is not good!). So, producers and crop advisors are strongly encouraged to scout fields frequently to monitor disease progress, particularly hybrids that may be more sensitive to the disease or fields with the greatest risk (such as continuous corn and conservation tillage systems). If you want more information on Gray Leaf Spot contact our office and we will get the latest NebGuide out to you. Since the ear leaf and those above it contribute the most to yield (approximately 70%), it is especially important to protect those leaves. It is concerning that gray leaf spot has already progressed to them in some areas this early in the season. Fungicide applications may be necessary to slow disease progression and seriously considered where the disease has reached or surpassed the ear leaf. I think that the most common fungicide being used is Headline or Bumper with some are using Stratego. I would suggest that you consider timing and necessity before spraying as it could be an extra $20-$30 per acre input cost on top of already costly year. Let’s talk insects. Quite frankly I have not seen or even heard of too much pressure from the normal run of crop insects this year ---with the exception of grasshoppers. There are there a lot of those little creatures that are showing their presence in pastures, road ditches and now field edges. I noticed them several weeks ago in some alfalfa fields and pastures. Some are now moving into the fields themselves and we are starting to see defoliation. Even the gardens on farms, acreages and even in town are starting to experience this scourge. You may want to walk through your fields and pastures and look at the defoliation to see if you should at least treat the outside edges, road ditches or staging area. It is best to control grasshoppers when they are young, so keep that in mind. I have information in our office on grasshoppers in crop and pastureland and even controlling them in gardens, if you are interested. Just give me a call or drop me an email and I will get you a copy. I have heard reports of bean leaf beetle populations building in some areas (mainly in the south). I have not personally seen too many at this point in time, but as we see bean leaf beetle populations build in some soybean fields, growers will likely begin to notice soybean defoliation and may have to made some decisions. The July 24 edition of CropWatch (http://cropwatch.unl.edu) has some information on this plus a handy defoliation guide that may be of use to you. I want to end this week’s edition with a post analysis of the Webster County Fair. All I can say is WOW! We had such beautiful weather which always makes for a better fair, and attitude of people and even livestock. I also thought the rodeo was one of the best we have had. One cannot dismiss the exhibits and the youth. My hat is off to all of the young 4-H and FFA exhibitors who once again brought outstanding exhibits. I was particularly proud of our livestock and their exhibitors as we once again got raving reviews from the judges on the showmanship / sportsmanship of the kids, and the quality of the exhibits. Kudos also to the parents, volunteers, sponsors, and buyers, who make the fair what it is each year! The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu