Agronomy

Recently, soybean fields around the Northeast have finally seen some much-needed rain. Many fields entered a long period of little to no rainfall after the seed entered the ground. Once the plants emerged, the only real stressors we encountered were due to the droughty conditions. However, after the last few weeks of warm, wet weather, disease presence in soybean fields has become evident.

As the summer heat and dry conditions continue throughout the Northeast drought stress can have an impact on your summer annual crop. Here are a few management tips to consider.

As we move into spring and early summer with green pastures ahead, cattle will begin to get a fair amount of their nutrients from these forage diets. Depending on the pasture makeup and maturity, there is potential that the diet provided is not balanced in a manner to allow efficient production of milk and meat.

See what Chuck Elam, SEEDWAY Watermelon Product Manager has to say about Nunhem’s SuperSeedless 7197HQ Watermelon during his visit in Arcadia, FL. Even in adverse growing conditions 7197HQ is an iron horse and produces! See for yourself!

In mid-April when our thoughts turned to planting corn hoping for an early planting season, Mother Nature had other plans in mind. Many regions in the east experienced cool, wet conditions which raised concerns about planting early. Let’s review some talking points surrounding what we need to consider before we pull out the planter.

We have seen a decrease in the crop removal rates over the last several years as we learn more about how crops utilize the nutrients. It is important to note the difference between crop removal and crop requirements. Use soil tests to determine how much of each nutrient is available in your soils and then fertilize accordingly.

Establishing healthy, vigorous stands early in the planting season is critical for achieving high yields. One way to ensure this is to provide the seed with all the nutrients it needs to get a head start. Recently, seed applied micronutrients have become a popular way to boost early season growth.

While corn silage is the widely known forage used for cattle in the United States, forage sorghums and sudangrasses are great alternatives because of their rapid growth and drought tolerance. Below are the key characteristics of each forage.

Before we jump into the field and start planting, we need to evaluate if our seed is ready to be placed in the ground. When we begin planting earlier than normal, there are some environmental conditions that may not be in our favor. That’s why we need to make sure we have our seed properly protected against the uncontrollable environment.

One of the best ways to accomplish pasture renovation is by frost seeding, sometimes referred to as overseeding, and is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to establish legumes. Frost seeding is simply broadcasting legume or grass seed on existing grass pastures in late winter or very early spring when the ground is still frozen. Freezing and thawing, plus early spring rains, provide the only seed coverage.