With planting just days away, now is a great time to look over your final planting details to ensure you are setting yourself up for maximum yield potential with the upcoming crop. Becks Practical Farm Research (PFR)® continues to provide us with unbiased guidelines and insights to help maximize yield and return on investment (ROI) on every acre.

We are midway through March and have experienced some above average temperatures that have left many of us feeling as though our corn planters should be running. We have actually heard a few reports of corn being planted around the state, but I believe it is in your best interest to be patient and postpone your planting operations for just a little bit longer.

Over the past few seasons, soybean yields as a whole have been pretty impressive. As a strategy to combat lower grain prices, many farmers are taking a closer look at soybean after soybean, or even continuous soybean, rotations. This is especially true for farmers with acres that may not always be best suited to grow corn. Some things to think about when considering a soybean after soybean scenario are fertility, disease management, planting rate, and weed control. 

By now many of you are probably aware that the EPA has approved the use of the herbicide XtendiMax™ with VaporGrip™ technology for in-crop use in dicamba tolerant soybeans. The Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybeans will have tolerance to both glyphosate as well as dicamba. Currently, the XtendiMax label only has a two-year registration. The EPA has reserved the right to rescind the label if they feel the product is being misused, is having a negative impact on the environment and general public impact, or is having a high number of off-target incidents.

After a slow start to the 2016 harvest, farmers throughout Ohio are now in full swing. Harvest marks the final stage to our 2016 crop, it is also the first step in preparing for your 2017 crop. Sitting in the combine at harvest is the perfect time to evaluate the various inputs and practices we implemented throughout the past growing season. 

A common service call I have received over the past week is yellowed corn. What causes yellow corn? Should you be concerned? What is important to remember is that the type of yellowing you see on your corn will be indicative of what caused the yellowing.

In many areas we are looking at corn tasseling or very close to it. Now is the time to evaluate last chance programs to improve yield. The first is fungicide applications. According to our Practical Farm Research (PFR)® data, VT applications on corn have been the most profitable when weather conditions warrant disease development. How susceptible are the hybrids you have planted? Your dealer or seed advisor can walk you through which hybrids will give the best return on fungicide. In soybeans scout for diseases prior to R3 growth stage. If you’ve had wet, or damp conditions in your field and see diseases, look at a fungicide application at R3-R4.