Page 20 - Pest Management Program News Today

Peninsula Pride Farms: Take a chance on cover crops Dairy Business Association BRUSSELS, Wis. – Mike Vandenhouten was blunt in telling farmers at a Peninsula Pride Farms field event it was time to make a change and improve the area’s soil health. “There comes a time when you have to take a chance and quit doing things the way we have traditionally been doing it. I think there is a better way to do it and this is an excellent opportunity for me to give it a try. I have some reservations,...

The 2021 Virtual Crop Scout School is now available and is free to the general public. The scout school consists of 22 webinars from crop protection s

Virtual Crop Scout School now offered The 2021 Virtual Crop Scout School for corn, soybeans, small grains and alfalfa is available now and free to the general public. Michigan State University Extension teamed up with crop protection specialists at 11 Midwest universities to offer a Virtual Crop Scout School. The school consists of 22 webinars covering general scouting, agronomics, disease, insects and weeds for corn, soybean, small grains and alfalfa. The webinars range from 20-30 minutes, and...

Jefferson Co. Soil Builders explore new management practices Gloria Hafemeister MILFORD – The new Jefferson County Soil Builders group is working to implement best management practices to reduce soil erosion and phosphorus runoff, increase soil organic matter and improve soil health. The farmer-led coalition shared their ideas during the organization’s first field day last week, highlighting successful conservation and farming practices. Jamie Patton was the guest speaker for the organizati...

Smart lake gardening: Planning your nearshore garden Extending your lakefront garden into the water opens an exciting new opportunity to enhance your property’s beauty and function. “If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” – Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden. Photo by Rebecca Finneran, MSU Extension. Extending your lakefront garden into the water opens an exciting new opportunity to enhance your property’s beauty and function. Elegant bulrush...

Smart waterfront plants to enhance your shoreline April 22, 2021 Plants that grow in, along, and just outside water play an important role in protecting water quality and providing habitat for many water loving critters. Photo by Mark Bugnaski Photography Living near water offers moments of serenity and beauty inspired by all aspects of the water’s edge. Imagine enjoying the dappled sunlight of a lake shoreline with towering aromatic white pine trees above with delicious blueberries and spars...

Almond blossoms grow on a tree spur. More than 80% of the almond crop is carried on those short, compact vegetative shoots. Spurs have been around for a bit with early examples used by the Roman Legions of Julius Caesar and more contemporary versions used by cowboys throughout the West. There’s another type of spur found in the West, this one located in almond orchards where more than 80% of the almond crop is carried on those short, compact vegetative shoots called spurs. Each season a...

DAP Tampa Fertilizer Index has nearly doubled since the start of the year.  Patton said the recent cold weather bogged down truck, rail, and barge transportation networks across the Midwest. This led to challenges for transportation networks to haul fertilizer from ports to Midwest areas. She said supplies were "already low or depleted" ahead of the winter season.  Demand for fertilizer began to ramp higher in late 2020 as farmers became optimistic about the 2021 growing season with futures p...

Farmers, other agricultural professionals and interested parties who work with corn following a previous corn crop can attend a corn rootworm management webinar on March 26 at 10 a.m., hosted by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, the University of Illinois Extension, and the University of Wisconsin Extension. “The strong winds of last summer’s storms caused damage to many corn fields. Inspections of those fields revealed that many continuous corn fields had roots severely damaged...

As farmers were bringing in a bountiful harvest after three years of less than ideal conditions, there was a sense of relief after a roller-coaster year set off by the pandemic. A year later, commodity prices have climbed out of the basement and are heading up to the attic. And with that 180-about face come higher feed prices as well as concerns over rising fertilizer costs and availability. Last fall, Rabobank forecast that phosphate prices may be elevated through first half of the year due to...