In this week’s CropCast, Seth Naeve and David Nicolai welcomed Dr. Dean Malvick, University of Minnesota Extension plant pathologist for corn and soybeans. Dean discussed the selection and Corn Tar Spot management criteria for growers to consider when choosing their 2025 corn seed inputs and crop inputs. While crop yield data from multiple sites in 2024 is extremely important, yield stability over time as affected by disease resistance for corn tar spot is essential in the selection process.

Dr. Malvick provided a review of the corn tar spot disease biology and the 2024 spread of the disease in corn production fields this year across Minnesota and into adjoining states. Dean specifically provided what is known and what is not known about progression and incidence of the disease occurrence in relation to weather, environment, wind spread and crop rotation effects. Because of the many disease risk factors that can occur each year there is not a simple answer to managing this disease. Dean discussed these factors and possible management controls such as hybrid corn selection, along with the use and timing of foliar fungicides. He also reviewed the best management practice for timely scouting for the presence of the disease in the summer of the growing season to provide more information when determining the use of corn foliar fungicides.

To see a distribution map where tar spot has been confirmed and real-time disease activity during the growing season in the US, visit https://corn.ipmpipe.org/tarspot/.

To learn more about the identification, biology, weather and research trials relating to the management of corn tar spot please refer to a previous episode of a University of Minnesota Strategic Farming webcast report from 2023.

Curt Burns, a farmer and independent crop consultant from South Central Minnesota joins Dave and Seth for a chat about the 2024 crop and soybean harvest. Curt farms in the Steward area and supports other farming operations as an independent crop consultant with C.B. Agronomics in Sibley, Renville, McLeod, Meeker, Nicollet, Kandihohyi Counties.

Dave and Seth chat with Curt about the soybean harvest progress and yields. The exceptionally dry and warm fall conditions have left Minnesota soybeans in an unusually dry condition that has led to yield losses for the farmer who is selling overly dry soybeans plus significant field losses due to shattering and harvest loss. Curt discusses his opinions related to yield losses due to the excess spring and summer rainfall and late drought conditions and reports on the soybean yields farmers are seeing in his region. Curt chats with Seth and Dave about variety selection for both corn and soybean. Curt is concerned about other fall activities during this very dry fall. Soil tests may be particularly accurate and will be difficult to pull, and warm and dry soils will lead to N losses for aggressive farmers.

Join Dave and Seth for another great Minnesota CropCast with Curt Burns.

This week’s University of Minnesota Extension "Minnesota CropCast” host Dave Nicolai has as his guest Dr. Tom Peters, Extension Sugarbeet weed specialist for the University of Minnesota and North Dakota State University. Tom provided an update on sugarbeet harvest progress and challenges this growing season for both the Red River Valley and southern Minnesota sugarbeet growing areas. In addition, Tom reviewed the major weed problems, herbicide options and what the future may hold in terms of new herbicide technologies. Finally, Tom provided an in-depth update about his 2024 weed control research programs and recommendations to consider when planning for 2025 weed control in rotated crops in sugarbeet programs.

Ed Usset, Grain Marketing Economist Center for Farm Financial Management, University of Minnesota was the guest for episode 39 of Minnesota CropCast. Since 2001, Ed has been writing and executing marketing plans for his mythical farms; a corn and soybean operation in Southwestern Minnesota and a wheat farm in the Red River Valley of Northwestern Minnesota. Throughout the discussion, Ed emphasizes the importance for grain growers to forward price their grain based on understanding seasonal market patterns after harvest especially during times of lower commodity prices. He also reviews some of the common mistakes in marketing in terms of timing grain sales. Finally, the discussion covers how national production and international demand factors may impact the 2024-2025 marketing year.

This week’s University of Minnesota Extension Minnesota CropCast has as its guest Dr. Robert Koch, an Extension Entomologist in the Department of Entomology at the University of Minnesota. Bob provided a comprehensive review and status of the Soybean Aphid infestations currently affecting commercial soybean acreage in Minnesota. Bob reviewed the basic biology and movement of soybean aphid over the years in Minnesota as well as the current economic thresholds for treatment. Bob emphasized that while correct field scouting techniques are important so are the scouting protocols for aphids on a regular basis through the early R6 (full seed) growth stage of soybeans. Also, he provided an in-depth discussion about the options for commercial insecticides when comparing the efficacy of single mode of action products compared to the use of mixtures of various foliar application products now on the marketplace. Finally, the use of IPM (Integrated Pest Management) techniques and the preservation of beneficial insects for aphid control was addressed as a major component of overall soybean aphid management.

This week’s University of Minnesota Extension Minnesota CropCast has as its guest Dr. Roger Becker, an Extension Weed Scientist in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics at the University of Minnesota. Roger grew up in southwest Iowa on a beef and grain farm. It was while he was attending Iowa State University (ISU) that he became interested in field research. This led him to an internship at Monsanto with a weed scientist and then to graduate school at ISU in Weed Science.

Dr. Becker came to the University of Minnesota in 1987 where his long and winding professional career began in earnest. Roger’s research and Extension activities focused on issues of great contemporary importance where professional voids occurred. For example, his earliest work was around groundwater contamination with herbicides that focused on weed management in forage crops. Later, when a colleague in the Horticulture department who supported weed control for sweetcorn producers retired, Roger took on this role as well.

Dr. Becker began closely working with MDA and DNR when purple loosestrife was put on the noxious weeds list. This weed was the thread that really connected Roger with the invasive species as well as the biocontrol, and regulatory communities. Roger has been an instrumental player in the biocontrol of invasive weed species ever since.

With Dr. Becker nearing retirement, this conversation reminds us of both the importance of Roger’s work, but also the varied and meandering route that academics sometimes take to make the largest impact for their clientele. Please join Dave and Seth for another interesting MN CropCast episode.

This week’s University of Minnesota Extension Minnesota CropCast has as its guest Dr. Kenneth Blumenfeld, Senior Climatologist, Minnesota State Climate Office. Kenny provides an update about this season’s unusually excessive precipitation and its effect on the state’s field crops. In addition, Kenny discusses in detail that this winter and spring’s weather represents some unusual extremes not only in precipitation but also in atmospheric temperatures. Kenny also reviews how the warm but very dry conditions across Minnesota in January and February of 2024, led to a more active pattern and brought much wetter conditions to the state during the spring, along with continued warmth. Meteorological Spring, March through May, exceeded the 1991-2020 average (or "normal") precipitation across all of Minnesota, with about half the state exceeding normal precipitation by over 50%.

March began on a very dry note, with extreme warmth. Kenny points to several excellent examples of the extreme variability of recent weather events such as in the Twin Cities, where a run of 33 days with no measurable precipitation that began on February 16th and continued through March 20th. This became the 2nd longest streak without measurable precipitation on record and lead to the opportunity for early season spring field work in out-state, Minnesota.

More recently, the proportion of Minnesota with above-normal precipitation grew to about 90% during April, with only the far north and a small part of the southeast coming in dry. However, by contrast, only 14 out of 30 days with measurable precipitation in the Twin Cities were warmer than normal for the date, meaning that wet days were slightly more likely to be cool. Season long, spring was warm, but it likely would have been even warmer without the switch to wet conditions, thus explaining the recent slower emergence of weeds and some field crops due to lower temperatures.

In episode 35 Dave Nicolai and Seth Naeve chat with Dr. Jeff Coulter, University of Minnesota Extension Corn Agronomist about early season precipitation, soil crusting and plant assessment of the 2024 corn crop in Minnesota. In addition, Seth, U of MN Extension Soybean Specialist, discussed how these same factors can affect soybean fields this spring. Jeff discussed delayed corn planting dates, desired soil conditions, corn planting populations and when to change corn maturity hybrid planting dates. Seth also discussed in detail the results of delayed soybean planting date research and recommendations for soybean planting populations.

Both Jeff and Seth referenced the University of Minnesota Extension Crop Management Web pages for Corn https://extension.umn.edu/corn/corn-planting and Soybeans https://extension.umn.edu/soybean/soybean-planting as excellent starting points to review guidelines, best practices and potential issues for planting as well as seeding rates based on University of Minnesota applied research trials.

In summary: Jeff discussed May and June corn planting windows, survival of flooded corn, populations that are adequate when not at optimal levels and recommendations for supplemental nitrogen fertilizer if needed. Seth discussed the scouting of early planted soybeans under weather stress, how recent rains were actually beneficial to alleviating some soil crusting and the awareness that seed treatments, while helpful, are not considered a long-term season long protection if wet soil conditions are excessive. Seth referred to the U of MN soybean management web pages which indicate that soybean planting in general as of May 22ndt can result in 90-95% of maximum yield while dropping to less than 90% of maximum yield as of May 29.