What is happening in the field with late April planted soybeans?

Interested in learning how current and new Beck’s Hybrids corn products are performing this growing season?

Mike Blaine, Field Sales Agronomist joins Alec Marxen, Seed Representative, from Minnesota to give a late April update on planting progress in their territory.

How do different tillage practices (or lack of) affect the ability of soils to accept water? Luke Schulte, Beck’s Hybrids Field Sales Agronomist, demonstrates differences experienced by a no-till field and a stale seed bed field (that has been touched by a disk ripper and a field cultivator).

Chad Kalaher, Beck’s Hybrids Field Sales Agronomist, shares helpful tips regarding early-season soybean management.

Chris Grimm & Pat Holloway discuss 2021 PFR Anhydrous Ammonia Studies.

Introducing the Beck’s Generation Farmer series, hosted by Field Sales Agronomist, Dale Viktora.

Potassium (K) plays vital roles within corn plants for carbohydrate, nutrient, and water flow. It is instrumental in gas exchange from the plant to the atmosphere as it regulates the opening and closing of the stomata of the leaf; it is also a key component in cell walls which add to stalk strength. Potassium is essential for photosynthesis, maximizing water use efficiency, helping maintain plant health, increasing test weight of grain, and nitrogen use efficiency. A corn plant requires almost as much K as nitrogen (N); however, when looking at soil test values across the Midwest, soil test K values have been falling. This is largely due to increased grain yields removing higher amounts of K from the soil and insufficient K applications.

Ear and kernel development is a lengthy process for a corn plant. It begins at the V5 growth stage as the plant determines kernel rows around and then continues to V12 where the potential maximum length of the ear is determined. Next comes the pollination stages where the maximum number of kernels is established and then finally, R5 when the maximum kernel size is established.

Any stresses, natural or manmade, during this process, can lead to abnormal ear set. Many of the abnormal ears and their causes are detailed below. Accurate diagnosis of these abnormalities can help prevent future problems in the field.

Soybean gall midge is a new pest in soybeans, first documented in Nebraska in 2011 and South Dakota in 2015. In 2018, damage was documented in 66 counties in four states (Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and Minnesota) with that number increasing by 19 additional counties so far in 2019 including the northwest corner of Missouri. It was not until the fall of 2018 that the species was identified.