Planting soybeans in cold soils? Many growers would look at the calendar and question if they needed a seed treatment this late in May. I would argue it’s more critical now than ever due to the abnormally cold weather and cold soils we are experiencing. Soybean seed is a big investment and you don’t want to have to plant twice. Protecting your investment with a great seed treatment like Hefty Complete, you are giving the tools of multiple fungicides, an insecticide, Nutri-Cycle, and Heat Shield along with the inoculant and extender all right on the seed treatment. With the last rain, and the cold soils we are experiencing, you are running a higher risk for diseases such as pythium and phytophthora. If you still haven’t planted soybeans on your farm, I would highly suggest protecting them with a seed treatment.

-Matt Thompson

Some area fields caught a bit of frost Wednesday morning. In many cases the new leaves will push through the whorl, and the plant will be able to reach full potential at this early stage.

-Glenn Herz

Whether you’re applying pre’s or early post herbicide, remember to treat your water with Water-Rite. Water-Rite works by lowering spray solution pH and also removing cations, thus lowering their ability to tie up any product you put in the tank. This helps to deliver more active ingredient to your target and improves efficacy of the product you’re using.

-Seth Hanson

Start watching for weeds breaking through even where you have a great pre program down. Walking a few fields last night, I was seeing a surprising amount of weed pressure, but almost all of it was along fencelines and headlands while the main part of the field was clean. Loading up a tank or two now to spray headlands and field edges while those weeds are small will save a lot of headaches later.

-John Wiese

I have been seeing a lot of kochia in these spring barley fields. I would recommend Rezuvant if you are also going after the wild oats. It’s the same rate at Axial Star, at 16.4 oz, but it has more of the Starane active which kills the kochia.

-Eddie Gonzalez

Every year, growers run into an issue of volunteer Roundup Ready alfalfa in potatoes. Most alfalfa seems unaffected by the pre-emergent herbicides due to the roots being far below the soil surface. Growers have had good results waiting until after emergence, long enough for any volunteer alfalfa to emerge, then cleaning up the volunteer alfalfa with a Matrix application.

-Dusty Danos

It is time to start getting pre-emergent herbicides applied to bean ground. Sonalan at 2 pints and Eptam at 4 pints does a good job of controlling most weeds. Be sure to incorporate it quickly.

-Justin Picklesimer

Soybeans have started to develop nodules on late April planted soybeans. This means that the plant is now slowly transitioning to making its own nitrogen. This field is at V3 so scouting has begun for the proper timing for a 2nd pass of herbicide.

-Nicholas Paulsmeyer

Be sure to check your sprayer tips and screens when you rinse out to start spraying your post. Having the correct screens and tips for the product you’re applying is a must. Also, this is a great time to run water through to make sure you have everything calibrated and have uniform spray coming out of your tips.

-Alex Geraets

Corn and soybeans coming off of a pretty big rain should be emerging if they haven’t already. Farmers should be on the lookout for some frost damage as the temperature was close to freezing (earlier in the week) if it didn’t get all the way there. Farmers should begin to get their post application setups ready to go as all the weeds will need is some heat to get jumpstarted.

-Teddy Van Gelder

There are some corn fields that have a low final population which is not due to germination. White grub has been affecting a few corn fields by chewing on the roots and killing the corn as it is emerging. This can be prevented with a full rate of granular or liquid insecticide in-furrow.

-Adam Sauer

As we begin spraying season, make sure to take the extra time to clean your tanks and booms out. There are many cheap tank cleaning products available to avoid contamination issues.

-Jonah Sylvester

Favorable agronomic conditions are expected for planting and early-season applications. Soil temperatures should continue trending upward, promoting more uniform emergence in corn and small grains. Breezy conditions may create some spray drift concerns so choose your spray times wisely.

-Josh Pippin

If you have crops that have some damage after emergence, there is a good chance that it is wind damage with how strong the winds have been the last few weeks.

-Ethan Buskness

Before spraying corn post be sure to get out in the field and see what weeds are present. If giant ragweed is out we can add stinger to the mix.

-Evan Oberdieck

As you are switching from spraying your corn pre-emerge to your soybean pre-emerge be sure to use a good tank cleaner. I have had the best of luck with ERASE tank cleaner at 2 qt/ 100 gals of rinse water.

-Jesse Lundebrek

Low lying areas in some local fields got froze last evening. Corn will regrow just fine. Emerged soybeans and sugar beets should be monitored in the next couple of days in the suspect areas for regrowth.

-Adam Gibson

A lot of the corn is at spike to V2 (2-leaf) stage. If you haven’t been able to spray and have waterhemp that is germinated, you can go out with dicamba. We recommend adding MegaGro with this application to help the corn metabolize the herbicide and reduce the herbicide tax on the corn plant.

-Aaron Erdahl

Ragweed is really taking off in corn. Stinger HL or a generic Stinger can be added to the tank mix to provide extra control of ragweed. Just make sure what type of Stinger is being added. 4 oz of the original Stinger or generic gives the same amount of active ingredient as 2.4 oz of Stinger HL.

-Cody Dobberstein

There have been weeds coming through some of the pre’s due to lack of moisture. In all cases the pre is still there, it just didn’t get activated until we got moisture. You may need to go out and spray earlier than planned, but you will still get the residual from the pre’s. They didn’t disappear.

-Grant Lunning

If you’re noticing creepy crawlies while cleaning your homes and garages this Memorial weekend, look to use Tempo or Talstar. Both are odorless, non-plant damaging and safe for the inside of your home.

-Dylan Lunning

Many growers in the area are noticing some weed escapes in fields. Some growers have been using an unsafened dicamba product to clean these spots up. Keep in mind if you are using unsafened dicamba, the corn is getting tall enough that a person should start looking at a different product, adding MegaGro to the dicamba, or using a safened dicamba. We try to cut the use of unsafened dicamba at V2 due to crop safety.

-Jeff Gladis

Now is the perfect time to look at corn stand counts out in your fields. Since this crop is planted in 30-inch rows, a length of 17′ 5″ must be counted for population totals. Then take your number times 1,000 to get your final stand. The pictures depict a scenario where the plants were planted too close.

-Jeremy Jensen

Scout areas of corn that have been hit with frost. Early season frost typically won’t hurt corn because the growing point is still underground. As the corn starts to regrow, expect some buggy whipping. On this particular field, a V-5 fungicide application is recommended.

-Dave Timmerman

There are some sugar beet acres that got replanted or are getting considered for replanting. If you want to layer a residual on those acres, Dual Magnum is going to be your only option that will allow the sugar beets to grow through it.

-John Scheibel

Corn is emerging nicely and the pre’s are holding well. To buy more time before making the post application, consider bordering fields. There is a lot of grass & thistle pressure along the edges of fields.

-Jeff Morris

If you planted conventional corn and have grass coming, your option to kill it is Accent Q. The use rate for Accent Q is 0.9 oz. It comes in an 18 oz bottle, so each bottle does 20 acres. Getting a bottle or 2 to border your fields is a great idea.

-Brandon Howard

Some early planted soybeans will be emerging soon. There is still time to get a pre-emerge herbicide application done. Just be sure to check your fields to see that no soybeans have started to emerge yet.

-Cole Bjugson

Volunteer wheat was found emerging very early this spring before fields were even fit for tillage. Complete control was not achieved with tillage alone. Farmers are having good success with Roundup added to the pre-emergence spray.

-Conner Wojchowski

Some early seeded canola is starting to pop out of the ground. Be sure to look for flea beetles once the canola emerges.

-Ross Hanson

I’ve been seeing some fields with weeds starting to emerge. I know that you may want to get out and spray it right away, but most of these post-emergence herbicides are contact killers so be sure that the temperatures are warm enough. The weeds need to be actively growing to take in the herbicide for a proper kill.

-Tyler Gasow

Weeds are starting to emerge, particularly on the edges of fields. Scout corn fields and consider spraying a burndown like dicamba. Spraying early will eliminate competition and keep the weeds from going to seed.

-Kyle Becker

I’ve noticed a good flush of dandelions in farmyards over the past few days. A good, safe option for treating yards is Freelexx. It’s much safer to use around flowers and gardens, as it doesn’t drift like older formulations of 2,4-D.

-Matt Nowak

We had a little frost damage with random patterns of injury. Scout your fields for damage, but in most cases the crop will put out new leaves in a few days and grow right through it.

-Rusty Reifenrath

Corn planted on the 28th of April has two fully emerged leaves with the third one coming. Soon that plant will start to determine kernels around on the ear. Crop health is important at these stages so consider using a herbicide safener like MegaGro with dicamba or glyphosate products during the post-emerge pass.

-Wyatt Mach

Corn post applications will be coming very soon. Be checking your fields to make sure the original plan you have in place will still work for the weeds emerging. Some plans might need the addition of DiFlexx, Status or Tough.

-Jared Steffensmeier

Another way to track crop progress: Try calculating GDU’s instead. Simply put your planting date and area zip code into the Ag PhD GDU calculator and see where your crops are at. Typically, we like to begin post spraying as soon as we hit 325 to 350 GDU’s.

-Casey Doernemann

In Northeast Nebraska, Corn planted before April 25th is already at V3-V4. It may feel early, but it is time to get your corn post herbicide sprayed as soon as conditions improve.

-Daniel Widhelm

After having it pointed out how much better Sencor (metribuzin) made the soybean burn down this year, I started paying closer attention. I was already a big believer in it, but this year you can really tell the difference between the fields where it was in the tank and where it wasn’t.

-Jacob Gubbels

As I surveyed various fields, I saw some interesting cases of reachback from products like Callisto and atrazine. Weeds such as morning glory, Palmer, and velvetleaf had discoloration throughout the plant as well as contortions and knotting. This comes as a result of the recent rain activating the pre-emergence chemical and the plant roots taking these up which will help slow down weed growth enough to get the post spray done.

-Josh Dexter

Weeds are starting to creep in around the borders on corn fields while the rest of the field is clean. A high rate of Roundup and possibly dicamba may be necessary to keep them from spreading further into the field until the main herbicide pass is required.

-Spencer Schultz

When fields start emerging, understanding when and how to take stand counts is very beneficial. I prefer to take stand counts around V1. Also be sure to take more than one stand count per field. For example, take a couple from the valleys, a couple from the high knobs, and a couple in between. Add them up and average them for best results.

-Edwin Pluimer

We are seeing severe wind damage to wheat fields in the area from the strong winds last week. It’s very important to get out and scout early to evaluate the damage and decide if replanting is necessary.

-Kody Amann

Make sure you are taking the time to check your seeding and planting depth. Seed depth is critical to achieving even emergence. We like to see corn planted at 2″ and soybeans 1″-1.5″.

-Brady Anderson

With canola plants emerging, it’s important to start scouting for canola flea beetles. Look for tiny holes/feeding marks on cotyledons and leaves. You want to catch damage before stand loss can happen.

-Matt Elder

As soybean acres get planted, it is important to make sure you are scouting your fields before applying your pre. If your soybeans are cracking the ground, switch to a group 15 such as Warrant, Outlook, Zidua, or Dual.

-Kalen Kjellsen

With corn emerging it is a good idea to go out and do a stand count in your fields. You will start by measuring one one-thousandth of an acre. In a 30″ row, that is 17 feet 5 inches. In a 22″ row, that is 23 feet 9 inches. Count the number of plants in the row within your measured distance and multiply by 1,000 to get your stand count. Also, multiply your number of plants by 10 and that will give you your approximate top-end yield potential.

-Brayden Hansen

When checking your seed depth, keep an eye out for wireworm, white grubs, and other pests. Corn rootworm is not the only yield robbing insect in the furrow.

-Michael Duch

Thistles have been an issue on corn field borders this year. Spike in some Stinger (clopyralid) to eliminate the Canada thistle with your post pass. Clopyralid works by targeting the roots, ultimately starving the plant from their vast root system up. Make sure your weeds are actively growing before applying your post pass.

-Lauralee Eaton

We have received reports of Canada thistle, grass, and other weeds in field borders and throughout some fields. Depending on the timing of your pre-emergent herbicide treatment, you may need to make an application soon. Identifying the weeds present is critical for making effective herbicide recommendations.

-Joe Schieffer

Did my emerged beans get frosted off last night and are they done for? After last night’s cold temps, you should wait 3-4 days before you know the exact extent of the damage to the beans. As long as the beans don’t freeze off below the cotyledons, they should make it. The cotyledons are the last 2 growing points on the bean plant.

-Lee Fischer

If spraying Enlist One post-emerge on soybeans this year and using clethodim as the volunteer corn killer, it is necessary to increase the rate of clethodim applying. There is antagonism between Enlist One and clethodim. By increasing the rate of clethodim, you will make sure the volunteer corn is killed on the first shot, so you don’t have to come back again later. You can go up to 16 oz/acre in a single application if needed.

-Dylan LeBrun

If you planted into a cover crop this spring and are looking to desiccate it, run a full rate of Powermax 3 and add 2 ounces per acre of MegaGro. Be sure to spray this on a warmer day when the plants are actively growing and taking in the herbicide.

-Zach Polzin

There was some frost in the area this week, so there may be a few corn plants that don’t look great right now, but don’t worry just yet. The growing point stays below ground until V5-V6 time frame and the plant should be fine.

-Zach Hefty

Have you noticed any thistles in your pasture? Look at herbicides containing Milestone. Good examples would be DuraCor or GrazonNext!

-Emma McInerney

Be checking your corn and soybean fields for emergence. If there are any issues, it is good practice to talk through and figure out a game plan earlier rather than later.

-Mark Swanson

Some pre-emerge herbicides were missed before the rains and can no longer be sprayed with soybeans emerging or cracking the soil surface. There are a few options that can be switched to such as Anthem Maxx, Perpetuo, or Warrant with Flexstar to get a good residual out with some burndown on emerged weeds.

-Travis Petty

We are seeing a few corn plants that are behind on emergence from time to time this spring. While several factors could be at play, the best thing to do is dig. Check to see if it is a planter issue, a soil issue, or maybe an insect issue. From the surface you may not be able to tell.

-Matthew Petersen

Thistles and other weeds are starting to take off in pastures. I would recommend using DuraCor. DuraCor contains Milestone along with a 2,4-D replacement product called Rinskor Active. If you are noticing leafy spurge, consider using a Tordon product like Grazon PD3.

-Blayne Martinez

You still have time to apply a corn pre herbicide as products such as Harness, TripleFlex, Harness Xtra can be applied up to 11″ tall corn.

-Lane Konrad

Many residual herbicides for corn can be applied after early emergence. Most of the best tools in our toolbox for soybeans have to be applied before emergence, however. If you didn’t spray a good product in corn such as Zidua before planting, make sure you’re getting in the field right away.

-Hayden Houdek

Now would be a good time to get out and spray your pastures with a gibberellic acid to stimulate dry matter production. Proliant PGR at 0.5-1 oz/acre can accelerate growth when cool temperatures limit growth rates.

-Conner Edelman

Spraying a pre-emerge herbicide application is very effective at getting rid of those early-season weeds. On fields that got a pre this year, early-season weeds like kochia and ragweed are cleaning up very well as soon as they emerge, allowing the seedling to thrive uncontested.

-Logan Scheel

As corn is emerging, be sure to know what your stand is to know if you need to replant. To do a stand count for 30-inch rows, measure 17’ 5” down a row, then count the emerged plants in that 17’ 5” and multiply by 1000 to get your stand per acre. It is best to do several stand counts per field to get a confident stand number.

-Spencer Frost

Soybeans are starting to crack through the surface. If you are planning on using Authority, Valor, or metribuzin, be sure to check before spraying. If the beans have emerged, switch to an Anthem Maxx or Zidua type product for the residual aspect.

-Hayden Simon

Canada thistle is showing in headlands on some corn fields. Stinger is the best option in-crop. It can be found straight, or in premixes like WideMatch, TripleFlex, or Maverick.

-Kyle Wiese

Soybeans are starting to emerge in the area. If you are planning on using the PPO’s (such as Valor or Authority products) be sure to do some scouting ahead of the sprayer. These products can be very hard on emerged soybeans and will likely cause serious damage. Switch to one of the group 15 herbicides (Anthem Maxx, Perpetuo, Zidua, Warrant) as these will be much safer and still provide the needed residual benefits.

-Jason Leyendecker

If you are spraying any labeled dicamba over XtendFlex soybeans, make sure to use labeled tank mix partners.

-Jarid Bechen

Alfalfa weevil larvae and weeds in alfalfa fields are still putting pressure on some fields around this area and most producers haven’t gotten a first cutting yet. Steward insecticide would still work great on these resistant insects as well as any new insects that would be in there. Most alfalfa around here is above 6+ inches, and it’ll be more than 7 days till cutting, so that would be a great option to get a complete insect kill in your alfalfa if there’s lots of insect pressure.

-Brendan Thompson

Make sure to put a fungicide in with the herbicide on the first wheat pass. With the cold temperatures and winds blowing in, disease likelihood is high. Aproach Prima at 3.4 oz or Nexicor at 3.5 oz are great choices.

-Jeremy Nedved

Kochia in our area is a big problem right now. No matter what contact chemistry you are using to control it, coverage is key to getting a good kill. I suggest using 15 or more gallons/acre to make sure you get it all.

-Shay Johnson

Now is the time to spray your pastures. Thistles are growing fast. Duracor is a great option.

-Mike Erickson

Around the area, we are seeing more and more weeds emerging throughout the fields. Where some fields are starting to emerge with the crop they planted, make sure to switch over to your post-emerge chemical. Once you get a good spraying day, make sure to take advantage of it.

-Ryan Kemnitz

Some early planted soybean acres are cracking or the beans have already emerged. Keep an eye out for this because if the pre-emerge PPO herbicides such as Spartan or Valor haven’t been applied, you will need to switch to an early post-emerge residual product such as Perpetuo, Anthem Maxx, Warrant, or Dual Magnum.

-Preston Barragan

To keep the thistles down in your pasture, consider using DuraCor herbicide. DuraCor provides broad-spectrum weed control and has good residual. The rate of DuraCor is 16 to 20 oz/acre.

-Beau Wensing

Latch NG is something that I try to have all my growers keep in their spray trailers. With a low use rate of 4 ounces, it is a great option to help reduce fine spray droplets. The wind seems to blow every other day, and using some Latch NG in your spray tank can keep you spraying just a bit longer on a marginal spray day.

-Dave Mack

If you have some oats planted and are going to have to spray for broadleaves and insects, you can use 1 pt/acre of WideMatch herbicide tank mixed with 4 oz/acre of Tilt fungicide, 2 oz/acre MegaGro, and 3.2 oz Silencer insecticide.

-Jack Beutler