Farm Talk Crops

Dealing with soybean seedling diseases

2012-05-22T14:06:38-05:00

Soybean seedling diseases can and do occur every year in Missouri. The likelihood of these diseases showing up in fields increases when temperatures are moderate and soils are saturated at planting time.

Crop operating expenses up in ‘12

2012-05-22T14:01:24-05:00

The cost of growing crops in Arkansas this year has risen 4.5 percent to 6.5 percent over last year, depending crop, according to research by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

Spotted knapweed thriving in Missouri

2012-05-15T13:54:26-05:00

It has been 10 years since spotted knapweed was first identified in southwest Missouri. The first three or four years after being noticed it didn’t seem to be spreading But in the past few years, this noxious weed has shown up in increasing amounts in new places around southwest Missouri.

Dry conditions add to wheat stress in western, central Kan.

2012-05-15T13:50:58-05:00

Wheat is under stress in much of western Kansas south of I-70 and west of Pratt and Great Bend. Wheat fields could use at least one last good rain before harvest.

Report says markets plead for soybeans

2012-05-15T13:41:07-05:00

Much has happened since early March that could sway farmers to take advantage of an increasing market for soybeans and plant more of the crop. Last week USDA reproted that soybean supplies relative to use could be at their lowest since 1965 after the 2012-13 cropping year

Early hay cutting offers some consolation in wake of 2011 drought

2012-05-08T12:41:37-05:00

The early cutting is a blessing in an area where last year’s drought turned pastures to tinder and forced many producers on scorched farms in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas to sell cattle they could no longer feed.

Armyworms on the march in SW Missouri

2012-05-08T12:28:12-05:00

University of Missouri Extension agronomy specialists have been closely monitoring true armyworm activity in various crops in Missouri this year. This comes after reports of significant damage to forages and crops in northern Arkansas.

Researchers continue battling soybean pest

2012-05-01T15:26:22-05:00

University of Missouri plant pathologist Melissa Mitchum and colleagues at Iowa State University and North Carolina State University recently received a $466,000 grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to continue their research on protecting soybeans from nematode parasites.

Determining the cost of hay equipment

2012-05-01T14:54:47-05:00

The greening of pastures and warming temperatures have triggered ruminant livestock owners to start thinking about the upcoming haying season

Natural predators at work on aphids in Kansas wheat

2012-04-24T13:49:58-05:00

Early April brought more than warm weather to Kansas farms. Aphid populations increased around the state due to immigration of the insects from the south and local reproduction.