Cereal rye can be used as high-quality forage for livestock, but careful management of herbicide rotational intervals is essential to ensure legal and effective use.

It’s almost time to scout for early season insect pests in corn and soybeans. These pests can impact soybean crops above and below ground.

It’s almost time to scout for early season insect pests in corn and soybeans. These pests can impact corn crops above and below ground.

Treated seed is the default for planted soybean (60-80%) and especially corn (close to 100%) acres across the US. While there are certainly advantages to some seed treatments, especially fungicidal treatments for early planted soybeans, others like insecticidal seed treatments can have a negative effect on the beneficial insects–aka good bugs–that prey on major pests in agricultural fields. Some farmers in a bid to save some money and help out the beneficials have gone back to planting naked seed.

Slugs are becoming an increasingly challenging pest for Wisconsin farmers who use conservation cropping practices like no-till and cover crops. The increased adoption of these practices in recent years, along with milder winters and wetter springs projected for Wisconsin in the future, may increase the importance of slugs as pests of field crops.  

This annually updated reference guide is one convenient source for management information on the key pests of corn, soybean, forages, small grains, and stored grains and provides targeted information for Wisconsin growers.

The Herbicide Mitigation Strategy is one of the first phases of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) work plan to achieve compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and will set the tone for subsequent changes in the coming years. Moving forward, the herbicide strategy will be applied to all new herbicide active ingredient registrations and be considered during the herbicide registration review process. Outlined below are the key changes to the label and mitigation practice resources.

Dr. Tommy Butts, assistant professor of weed management at Purdue University, presents on the chemistry of herbicide applications.

Dr. Tommy Butts, assistant professor of weed management at Purdue University, covered conventional technology related to drift and weed control. Butts dug into the effects of spray volume, spray pressure, droplet size, and tip selection related to herbicide type.

Soybean aphids (Aphis glycines) are an invasive pest from Asia that can significantly stunt plant growth and yield. Soybean aphids feed on the sap of plants and leave behind a sticky residue.