Nebraska Field Reports

Nebraska Extension

June 17, 2016

Cody Creech, Extension Dryland Cropping Systems Specialist at the Panhandle REC: As far as I have observed, we had very limited lodging from the weekend storm. The rain was much needed and high yields are still expected across the region.

Rust in the southwest corner of the Panhandle continues to be an issue and yield loss of 30-50% should be expected in heavily infested fields. Some heavily infested fields have been swathed for forage. Most producers have sprayed and the wheat looks good.

Another concern is the extremely high temperatures which will limit grain fill and lower test weights.

June 15, 2016

Keith Glewen, Extension Educator in Saunders County: The photo shows a winter wheat field on the Carl and David Sousek farm near Prague that experienced significant lodging from heavy winds and 3+ inches of rain on June 13. The Souseks are evaluating the positive and negative effects of including a third crop into their corn-soybean rotation.

Although very little soil erosion occurred during this storm event, when looking at only profitability, wheat struggles to be competitive with the two-crop corn-soybean rotation.

John Wilson, Extension Educator in Burt County: It’s amazing how quickly things change. We’re dry and could use a rain (although many springs are still running out of hillsides). Rains the last couple days have been spotty at best. I had less than one-tenth inch and a co-worker (Mary Loftis) about 10 miles away had over one-half inch.

Planting (and replanting) is basically done, except for the springy areas which will never get planted this year. Not that much alfalfa up here, but first cutting is done and growers report excellent yields.

Corn has put on good growth with good moisture reserves in the soil and warm temperatures. Soybeans haven’t taken off as fast (yet). We aren’t seeing any major crop pest problems yet.

Sarah Schlund, Extension Educator in Dawson County: The hot weather last week allowed for rapid corn growth throughout this area. Herbicides are still being applied, but have slowed a little with the rain we’ve had the past couple of evenings. There were reports of 1.5 inches of rain earlier this week in parts of Dawson County.

Soybeans look pretty good and are growing well with the warm temperatures. Most of the first hay cuttings have been put up, but a few are still cutting or have their hay down. A few producers have started their pivots due to the dry spell we had, and more will likely turn on their pivots with the expected temperatures this weekend.