The planter pass is the most important pass of the season. It sets the stage for everything else. Equally important is the
time spent doing planter maintenance, prep, and set up. Each planter or row unit manufacturer has specific guidelines
as to how to set and adjust specific equipment, so always reference the owner’s manual, but the following holds true for
most planting implements.

Farming at a profit is more challenging when grain prices are low. Producers with owned ground and sound management can likely farm at a profit albeit at a narrower margin than previous years. Producers shelling out high cash rents will find it more difficult to operate at a profit even with sound management. Many paying high cash rent will operate at a loss. This is especially true if looking at profitability in a “site-specific” manner — considering profit/loss variability across a field or operation.

When a farmer ends up with damaged grain at harvest, the best thing to do is sell it as quickly as possible. However, sometimes due to the obligation to fulfill contracts or the ability to utilize bin space to capture carry in the market, it becomes necessary to store damaged grain.

There are numerous stalk rots that affect corn in mid to late season. Weather, nutrition and genetic disease tolerance all play major parts in the disease cycle. Plants move nutrients from the stalks to the ears during grain fill. High yields mean heavier ears. These two phenomena combined can make stalk quality issues a problem even in very high-yielding areas.

High rainfall and warm temperatures after maturity physically cause the soybean pod to swell and shrink. Any structural weakness in the pod from diseases or insect feeding will allow moisture into the pod where it affects the soybean itself. The pods then split open from the physical stress of swelling with moisture. Soybeans exposed to warm temperature and high moisture are also subject to germinating in the pod. All soybean varieties are susceptible to damage in exceptionally wet years. 

In this agronomy update, Nate Mayer and Jerry Mathis, Field Agronomist for Beck's Hybrids, evaluate late-season stalk integrity as we prepare for harvest.

Now is the time that many of you will be making some decisions regarding fungicide and insecticide applications on your soybeans.

When scouting corn, it's important to focus starting now through brown silk, or the R2 growth stage. This is the most important time to protect the plant as it's going through grain fill.

High heat and humidity, especially like we have experienced this summer, creates a perfect breeding ground for diseases such as gray leaf spot. Because of this, you may find that your corn fields are in need of a fungicide application.

The corn in my area is at, or approaching, the VT growth stage with plants starting to tassel. It's typically this time of year that I often get a lot of questions regarding fungicides