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Posted February 04, 2025 by Travis Hawkins

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week published a checklist for agricultural employers to use to prevent and slow the spread of COVID-19. The checklist, developed by the CDC and the U.S. Department of Labor assists employers with applying specific preparation, prevention and management measures on their operation. The checklist is broken into five sections: • Section 1: Assessment • Section 2: Control Plan based on the Hierarchy of Controls » Screening and Monitoring Workers » Managing Sick Workers » Addressing Return to Work after Worker Exposure to COVID-19 » Engineering Controls » Cleaning, Disinfection, and Sanitation » Administrative Controls » Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) • Section 3: Special Considerations for Shared Housing • Section 4: Special Considerations for Shared Transportation • Section 5: Special Considerations for Children Employers can use the list to reassess, update, and modify your assessment and control plan on a regular basis or as conditions change. Eric Conn, founding partner at law firm Conn Maciel Carey LLP and chair of its chair OSHA workplace safety group, says employers should be aware that OSHA has not released standards specific to workplace safety and COVID-19. However, the agency is using the general duty clause as an enforcement tool. Here are Conn’s top three reasons every employer should have a single COVID exposure control/response plan in writing: 1. Your employees are scared. Having a written plan gives them comfort and abates the incredible amount of angst right now. It demonstrates to your team that you’ve taken your response seriously and put a lot of thought into it. 2. It helps in your dealings with OSHA. By having a documented plan, it shows the agency the steps you have taken, and it can help defend actions you’ve taken. 3. We are on the verge of seeing a tidal wave of litigation. Conn expects more wrongful death, personal injury suits, and more litigation about employee’s and their family members becoming sick. Having a good, effective and coherent action plan will buy your outline for a defense. “Having a written exposure plan, it’s just like lock out/tag out or an emergency action plan,” he says. Conn shared his insights into the OSHA guidance and workplace health and safety issues during a webinar hosted by the National Grain and Feed Association and Grain Journal. He says the developing regulations around workplace health and safety issues and COVID-19 has been akin to “building the car while driving down the highway.”

Posted February 04, 2025 by Travis Hawkins

DTN Ag Interest Rate Snapshot TODAY – LAST YEAR as of: 6/26/20 6/26/19 BENCHMARKS Prime Rate 3.25 5.50 30-Day Libor 0.18 2.40 1-Year Libor 0.57 2.15 10-Yr. Treasury 0.66 2.01 CCC Loan Rate 1.125 3.375 Real Estate * 4.34 5.59 Operating * 4.57 5.42 Feeder Livestock * 5.06 4.80 Farm Machinery * 5.31 5.89 * Federal Reserve’s quarterly average effective interest rates at ag banks. © (c) Copyright 2020 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.

Posted February 04, 2025 by Travis Hawkins

Wholesale beef prices are getting close to last year’s lows, thanks to breaks in production logjams at slaughter facilities. That’s what Texas A&M AgriLife Extension economist David Anderson is seeing. He reported choice beef cutout (steaks, briskets, prime chuck, roasts) peaked at $4.59 per pound as Covid-19 began to interrupt production. Last week, that price was down to $2.41 per pound. That is close to June 2019, when it was at $2.22 per pound. “As packing capacity recovered, the price has come back down to Earth,” Anderson said. “Choice box beef cutout is a good representation of the wholesale value of a carcass, and so it appears prices are returning to normal.” He added day-to-day beef production has surpassed 2019 numbers, another indication bottlenecks at processing facilities are opening. Processing capacity, however, remains below 100%. “Prices are coming down as packers return to capacity,” he explained. “Beef production was larger than the same week a year ago, but it’s because feeder cattle weights are up due to good spring conditions and producers and feedlots hanging onto cattle longer than normal.” Moving into July, Anderson said he expects retail prices to reflect the drop in wholesale prices. “There’s always a lag to these price changes. It will be interesting to see where wholesale prices end up and whether the prices at grocers will be as dramatic as what we’ve seen with wholesale.” The economy, noted Anderson, is the wildcard that will drive beef prices as the country nears the July 4th holiday. “We still have a recession, 40 million people unemployed, falling incomes, restaurants at partial capacity . . . and none of that is good for beef, especially high-value cuts. What kind of economic recovery will we see? A V-shaped recover is the best case, but if it’s not that means there are a lot of struggles, not just in the beef market.” © (c) Copyright 2020 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.

Posted February 04, 2025 by Travis Hawkins

ROCKVILLE, Md. (DTN) — As June starts to melt into July, summer insects’ favorite buffets are in season: fields of growing crops. Soybean fields appear to be at the top of the menu this month, with a growing number of agronomists and farmers reporting sightings of soybean gall midge, thistle caterpillars and Japanese beetles in soybean fields in the past week. SOYBEAN GALL MIDGE Soybean gall midge is a relatively new insect that has been spreading for two years and is a confirmed pest in 95 counties in Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. Fortunately for growers, a multi-state team of scientists is aggressively monitoring and tracking its spread here: https://soybeangallmidge.org/…. So far in 2020, they have confirmed its emergence in four states. Scientists have found soybean plants seem to be most at risk for infestation after the V2 growth stage, when fissures that form on the stems during normal growth offer an opening for the gall midge adults to lay eggs. The resulting larvae, which start out white and then turn orange as they grow, feed within the stem, resulting in brown, brittle stems and even plant death. Because the adults’ emergence and egg laying can occur over a long period of multiple weeks, treatment has been tricky. University of Nebraska scientists did document some success with pyrethroid insecticide treatments applied to soybean fields with previous infections, up to 10 days after the first adult emergence, on fields at or beyond the V2 stage. “Since soybean gall midge is a field edge infesting pest, growers may only need to treat the first 60 to 120 feet of a field edge that is directly adjacent to a field that was injured the previous year,” University of Nebraska entomologists advised in a recent CropWatch article. Keep in mind that, so far, no insecticide treatments have provided total control of the pest, the Nebraska scientists cautioned. See the article here: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/…. Growers who have not had a previous gall midge infestation in their fields or county should alert their Extension office if they find them, as the pest is actively expanding its geography. JAPANESE BEETLES These shiny-backed, copper-colored beetles started to surface in mid-June in many states such as Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and North Dakota. Most sightings have been in soybean fields, which can sustain an impressive amount of feeding before any treatments are necessary, even in reproductive stages, noted Matt Montgomery, a Pioneer agronomist who works in west-central Illinois. “You really need to see 20% defoliation of all the leaf area across an entire field,” he said. “It’s a very significant portion of leaf material that needs to be gone before you have to act.” The University of Nebraska’s guide to insect defoliation in soybeans adds that in the vegetative stages of a soybean field, insecticide treatment isn’t warranted until defoliation levels near 30%. See more here: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/…. In corn, the primary concern is silk clipping, which can interfere with the critical pollination stage. Generally, scientists recommend insecticide treatments if you can find three or more Japanese beetles per ear, silks have been clipped to less than 1/2 inch and pollination is less than 50% complete. Montgomery recommends the “shake test” to monitor your pollination progress if Japanese beetles are becoming an issue in your cornfield. “Husk it, shake it and see how many silks fall away,” he said. “If they fall away from 3/4 of an ear, that means 3/4 of the ear is established, and you don’t need to get too wound up about Japanese beetles coming in.” THISTLE CATERPILLARS For a second year in a row, some states are reporting significant levels of thistle caterpillar feeding in soybean fields, most notably Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and Minnesota. The thistle caterpillar is the larval stage of the painted lady butterfly, which migrates from the southern U.S. and Mexico, laying eggs in the Midwestern states around mid-June, typically. While the caterpillars prefer Canada thistle plants, they are happy to feed on crops such as sunflowers and soybeans. The caterpillars create webs that pull leaves together to form a protective cover as they feed, leaving big matted clumps of defoliated leaves in the field. See more here: https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/…. The Soybean Research Information Network states treatment may be necessary if defoliation exceeds 30% in bean fields in vegetative stages and the caterpillars are still present and feeding. In reproductive stages, that defoliation threshold drops to 20%. See more here: https://soybeanresearchinfo.com/…. Emily Unglesbee can be reached at [email protected] Follow her on Twitter @Emily_Unglesbee https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2020/06/26/soybean-gall-midge-japanese-beetles

Posted February 04, 2025 by Travis Hawkins

ROCKVILLE, Md. (DTN) — As June starts to melt into July, summer insects’ favorite buffets are in season: fields of growing crops. Soybean fields appear to be at the top of the menu this month, with a growing number of agronomists and farmers reporting sightings of soybean gall midge, thistle caterpillars and Japanese beetles in soybean fields in the past week. SOYBEAN GALL MIDGE Soybean gall midge is a relatively new insect that has been spreading for two years and is a confirmed pest in 95 counties in Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. Fortunately for growers, a multi-state team of scientists is aggressively monitoring and tracking its spread here: https://soybeangallmidge.org/…. So far in 2020, they have confirmed its emergence in four states. Scientists have found soybean plants seem to be most at risk for infestation after the V2 growth stage, when fissures that form on the stems during normal growth offer an opening for the gall midge adults to lay eggs. The resulting larvae, which start out white and then turn orange as they grow, feed within the stem, resulting in brown, brittle stems and even plant death. Because the adults’ emergence and egg laying can occur over a long period of multiple weeks, treatment has been tricky. University of Nebraska scientists did document some success with pyrethroid insecticide treatments applied to soybean fields with previous infections, up to 10 days after the first adult emergence, on fields at or beyond the V2 stage. “Since soybean gall midge is a field edge infesting pest, growers may only need to treat the first 60 to 120 feet of a field edge that is directly adjacent to a field that was injured the previous year,” University of Nebraska entomologists advised in a recent CropWatch article. Keep in mind that, so far, no insecticide treatments have provided total control of the pest, the Nebraska scientists cautioned. See the article here: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/…. Growers who have not had a previous gall midge infestation in their fields or county should alert their Extension office if they find them, as the pest is actively expanding its geography. JAPANESE BEETLES These shiny-backed, copper-colored beetles started to surface in mid-June in many states such as Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and North Dakota. Most sightings have been in soybean fields, which can sustain an impressive amount of feeding before any treatments are necessary, even in reproductive stages, noted Matt Montgomery, a Pioneer agronomist who works in west-central Illinois. “You really need to see 20% defoliation of all the leaf area across an entire field,” he said. “It’s a very significant portion of leaf material that needs to be gone before you have to act.” The University of Nebraska’s guide to insect defoliation in soybeans adds that in the vegetative stages of a soybean field, insecticide treatment isn’t warranted until defoliation levels near 30%. See more here: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/…. In corn, the primary concern is silk clipping, which can interfere with the critical pollination stage. Generally, scientists recommend insecticide treatments if you can find three or more Japanese beetles per ear, silks have been clipped to less than 1/2 inch and pollination is less than 50% complete. Montgomery recommends the “shake test” to monitor your pollination progress if Japanese beetles are becoming an issue in your cornfield. “Husk it, shake it and see how many silks fall away,” he said. “If they fall away from 3/4 of an ear, that means 3/4 of the ear is established, and you don’t need to get too wound up about Japanese beetles coming in.” THISTLE CATERPILLARS For a second year in a row, some states are reporting significant levels of thistle caterpillar feeding in soybean fields, most notably Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and Minnesota. The thistle caterpillar is the larval stage of the painted lady butterfly, which migrates from the southern U.S. and Mexico, laying eggs in the Midwestern states around mid-June, typically. While the caterpillars prefer Canada thistle plants, they are happy to feed on crops such as sunflowers and soybeans. The caterpillars create webs that pull leaves together to form a protective cover as they feed, leaving big matted clumps of defoliated leaves in the field. See more here: https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/…. The Soybean Research Information Network states treatment may be necessary if defoliation exceeds 30% in bean fields in vegetative stages and the caterpillars are still present and feeding. In reproductive stages, that defoliation threshold drops to 20%. See more here: https://soybeanresearchinfo.com/…. Emily Unglesbee can be reached at [email protected] Follow her on Twitter @Emily_Unglesbee https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2020/06/26/soybean-gall-midge-japanese-beetles

Posted February 04, 2025 by Travis Hawkins

https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/livestock/article/2019/03/25/midwest-livestock-industry-hit-hard

Posted February 04, 2025 by Travis Hawkins

By Russ Quinn, DTN Staff Reporter Original Article can be found here: https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/crops/article/2019/03/27/mixed-moves-retail-fertilizer-prices-2 OMAHA (DTN) — Retail fertilizer price movement continued to be mixed the third week of March 2019, according to retailers surveyed by DTN. This marked the fourth week in a row in which at least some prices declined. Prices for half of the eight major fertilizers were slightly lower compared to last month. DAP had an average price of $509 per ton, MAP $533/ton, urea $401/ton and UAN28 $270/ton. The other half of fertilizers were slightly higher in price. Potash had an average price of $386/ton, 10-34-0 $470/ton, anhydrous $597/ton and UAN32 $318/ton. On a price per pound of nitrogen basis, the average urea price was at $0.44/lb.N, anhydrous $0.36/lb.N, UAN28 $0.48/lb.N and UAN32 $0.50/lb.N. With spring fieldwork set to begin soon, nitrogen application trips across the Midwest will be occurring. More nitrogen than usual will be applied this spring because of wet weather limiting application last fall. But before producers start applying nitrogen, they may want to consider reducing the amount they apply this spring as a way to save money, according to a recent report in the University of Illinois Farmdoc Daily e-newsletter. Gary Schnitkey from the university’s department of agricultural and consumer economics and Laura Gentry from the department of natural resources and environmental sciences wrote an article in the newsletter on March 18 titled “The Economic Advisability of Lowering 2019 Nitrogen Application Rates on Corn.” The pair wrote that two overriding economic factors suggest the urgency in lowering nitrogen rates this spring. The first is that net incomes on Illinois farms could be extremely low in 2019. Projections indicate average income on grain farms enrolled in Illinois Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) could be minus $55,000, the lowest average income since FBFM began collecting consistent income data starting in the 1970s. “Given these low incomes, reducing costs is crucial, particularly if those costs do not increase revenue,” Schnitkey and Gentry wrote. Secondly, nitrogen fertilizer prices have increased and will be at a level above the prices the last three years. A higher nitrogen price suggests lowering applications, particularly given that the 2019 expected corn price is roughly at the same level as in 2017 and 2018, the two wrote. The maximum return to nitrogen (MRTN) rates are available from the Corn Nitrogen Rate Calculator, a website maintained by universities in the Corn Belt states. The MRTN gives the nitrogen rate that, over time, will produce the highest economic return for nitrogen use. Click this link to use the calculator: For corn following soybeans, anhydrous in northern Illinois has a recommended rate of 157 pounds per acre, central is 174 lbs./acre and south is 180 lbs./acre. For UAN28, north is 144 lbs./acre, central is 163 lbs./acre and south is 166 lbs./acre. In corn following corn for anhydrous, the north and central recommendations are 200 lbs./acre, while south is 193 lbs./acre. For UAN28, the north is 186 lbs./acre, central is 188 lbs./acre and south is 180 lbs./acre. “Applications of nitrogen in the MRTNs have additional costs,” Schnitkey and Gentry wrote. “Given the nitrogen prices above, every 10-pound application of actual nitrogen applied above the MRTN has a cost of $3.70 per acre for anhydrous and $5.00 per acre for UAN28.” You can read the entire Farmdoc Daily report here: All eight of the major fertilizers are now higher compared to last year with prices shifting higher. MAP is 6% more expensive, both DAP and urea are 9% higher, potash is 10% more expensive, 10-34-0 is 11% higher, UAN28 is 14% more expensive, UAN32 is 18% more expensive and anhydrous is now 19% higher compared to last year. DTN collects roughly 1,700 retail fertilizer bids from 310 retailer locations weekly. Not all fertilizer prices change each week. Prices are subject to change at any time. DTN Pro Grains subscribers can find current retail fertilizer price in the DTN Fertilizer Index on the Fertilizer page under Farm Business. Retail fertilizer charts dating back to 2010 are available in the DTN fertilizer segment. The charts included cost of N/lb., DAP, MAP, potash, urea, 10-34-0, anhydrous, UAN28 and UAN32. DRY Date Range DAP MAP POTASH UREA Mar 19-23 2018 469 504 349 368 Apr 16-20 2018 484 502 353 368 May 14-18 2018 483 505 354 368 Jun 11-15 2018 484 505 354 364 Jul 9-13 2018 485 504 354 366 Aug 6-10 2018 487 507 356 363 Sep 3-7 2018 488 514 358 366 Oct 1-5 2018 501 523 364 389 Oct 29-Nov 2 2018 506 528 366 408 Nov 26-30 2018 501 530 369 409 Dec 24-28 2018 507 533 379 407 Jan 21-25 2019 512 535 383 409 Feb 18-22 2019 512 536 385 404 Mar 18-22 2019 509 533 386 401 LIQUID Date Range 10-34-0 ANHYD UAN28 UAN32 Mar 19-23 2018 422 503 236 269 Apr 16-20 2018 431 508 240 275 May 14-18 2018 439 510 241 276 Jun 11-15 2018 440 503 241 277 Jul 9-13 2018 443 505 242 279 Aug 6-10 2018 445 482 233 271 Sep 3-7 2018 446 480 232 271 Oct 1-5 2018 451 488 237 279 Oct 29-Nov 2 2018 457 505 245 285 Nov 26-30 2018 457 519 246 287 Dec 24-28 2018 457 568 266 303 Jan 21-25 2019 467 584 270 313 Feb 18-22 2019 470 596 271 317 Mar 18-22 2019 470 597 270 318 Follow him on Twitter @RussQuinnDTN (AG/BAS) © Copyright 2019 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.

Posted February 04, 2025 by Travis Hawkins

Original article can be found here: https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/business-inputs/article/2019/03/21/farm-ugly Robby Bevis didn’t decide to chuck his farm-management plan and get closer to nature on a whim. It took some convincing by friends and finally a commitment to let plants and biology tell him how to manage the crop. The transformation began back in 2012, when former college friends working with the Natural Resources Conservation Service started telling Bevis about the benefits of cover crops. “They told me about how the biology of the soil worked and how I could make the soil healthy again,” Bevis recalled. He wasn’t so sure, although he had already adopted no-till for several years — primarily to cut costs. Still, Bevis decided to try cover crops on about 900 acres with the help of a government program that paid all the costs. He noticed two things. First, farming got even uglier, which didn’t make much of an impression on Bevis. He said farmers don’t like driving the turnrow and not see a pretty row of corn standing from end to end because the cover crop is there. He said they don’t like waiting three weeks to see a stand instead of the typical 10 days with no cover crops. UGLY BENEFITS On the other hand, tangible benefits were starting to surface. “I saw my irrigation costs going down. I started cutting back on potassium (K) and phosphorus (P) in corn, and went to zero P and K in soybeans. Today, we’re starting to cut back on some nitrogen and still turning out 175- to 195-bushel corn. We are running 50- to 55-bushel yields on soybeans.” When all was said and done, ugly won, which sent Bevis down a road of discovery — and trial and error. One of the first things that became evident after the transformation was that Bevis spent less time in the tractor seat and more time walking the fields. He scouted fields looking for earthworms and beneficials that were thriving due to healthier soils and fewer pesticide applications. “We, as farmers, need to spend more time in the fields looking and seeing, and letting the plants tell us what we need to do instead of automatically doing certain things,” Bevis pointed out. “Instead of just looking at insect pressure and worm pressure early in the spring, we need to be sweeping (with a net) and trying to find beneficials. If we have a good number, then we’re not going to have near as many pest problems.” MORE COVER Bevis, who farms with his father, Bob, and son Trey, southwest of Lonoke, Arkansas, quickly expanded his use of cover crops to 2,700 acres. Typically, Bevis chemically terminates the cover crop based on its condition and biomass. “It’s hard to say when the sweet spot for termination is going to be,” he explained. “We had a mild winter in 2016, and the cover crop did well. We began terminating around the end of March. “In 2017, we had a hard winter and a dry fall, and the cover crop didn’t do as well. I had to wait until about mid-April before I started terminating it. At times, I’ve pushed out my planting date two weeks beyond everybody else’s on my first plantings of corn. They told me when I got into this that my cash crop would start revolving around my cover crop. That’s turned out to be true.” When it’s time to plant soybeans, Bevis’ cover crop will be anywhere from waist high to 6 feet tall. He uses a roller/crimper ahead of the planter to flatten the cover. He has found the mechanical action of the roller along with a chemical application do a better job of cover-crop termination than a chemical application alone. In corn, Bevis said he doesn’t roll his cover crop because it typically hasn’t gotten enough growth by planting time to give him any problems. “But, it can go from manageable to hard to manage very quickly,” he explained. The planter runs right behind the rolling operation. “I don’t use no-till coulters or trash sweeps, but I do have a serrated disk opener,” Bevis said. “Once you do cover crops and no-till for several years, your soil becomes more mellow, so it’s not hard to plant into.” Cover crops require the presence of farmer footprints in the soil, as well, Bevis stressed. “You have to get out and look a little closer for weeds to make sure your covers are thick enough to suppress weeds. Make sure you don’t have any thin spots in the field where you could have some weed escapes.” Bevis’ go-to blend for his cover crop going into soybeans is cereal rye, black oats, vetch and some type of brassica. In corn, he’ll add more legumes to the mix. He also has adopted a no-till practice he called “have to till,” where he tills only if he has to, for example, if rutting occurs during harvest. Bevis credited Ray Archuleta, former soil conservationist with the NRCS, for setting him on the right path to soil health. “Ray would say, ‘I want to get you to the point where it hurts for you to do tillage.’ Today, it hurts me to watch my neighbors do tillage,” Bevis said. “I used to love the smell of fresh-tilled dirt until I realized that the smell is the death of your biology.” SPREAD THE WORD Bevis is returning the favor of Archuleta and others by convincing more farmers to adopt soil-health practices. He is assisting other farmers to ease into the soil-health movement. “My passion is to get more farmers interested in soil health. We have figured out a lot of answers in the alliance. We want to get that information to other farmers wanting to try soil-health practices,” he said. The alliance is a partnership with the University of Arkansas, Arkansas State University and the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts. “We’re working on research and getting some trials started so we can have scientific evidence behind what we’re doing,” Bevis explained. Soil health is not always about having the best yields, he added. “It’s about having the best margins. I would much rather be a profitable 40-bushel soybean farmer than a break-even 60-bushel soybean farmer.” Mother Nature can work for farmers just like it does for natural prairies and forests, Bevis added. “Think about it: Nobody fertilizes Mother Nature. Nobody applies insecticides; nobody irrigates. Now, are there years that there’s not as good an acorn crop? Yes. But, if you really look at it, Mother Nature will fix herself if you’ll just get out of her way.” (ES/CZ) © Copyright 2019 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.

Posted February 04, 2025 by Travis Hawkins

As 2018 was winding down, Iowa State University Extension specialists were gearing up, publishing eight pest management guides for the 2019 growing season. Several of these guides are downloadable, for free, from the ISU Extension Store. The materials can help you establish a balanced integrated pest management strategy for all your weed, insect and disease pests. The guides include the following: • Iowa Crop Performance Tests – Corn 2018 (CROP 3148) by Jim Rouse. The Iowa Crop Performance Tests for corn is conducted each year to help farmers select the best hybrids for their production conditions. All six corn districts are now conveniently combined into one publication. • Iowa Crop Performance Tests – Soybean 2018 (CROP 3149) by Jim Rouse. The Iowa Crop Performance Tests for soybean is conducted each year to help farmers select the best varieties for their production conditions. • 2018 Yellow Book for Soybean Aphid (CROP 3155) by Erin Hodgson. This publication provides soybean aphid treatment recommendations and application rates, based on research conducted at two northern Iowa research farms in 2018. In addition to treatment techniques, the publication also contains information about the soybean aphid life cycle, scouting advice and a statewide summary for 2018. • Green Gram and Black Gram: Small-grain Legume Crops for the Midwestern United States (CROP 3156) by Arti Singh, Kulbir Sandhu, Matt Carroll and Kyle Parmley. Introducing new specialty crops that complement corn, soybean and cover crops can help improve soil health and provide enhanced long-term productivity and profitability. Green gram and black gram are examples of these specialty crops that are being tested at Iowa State University. This publication provides information on the crop themselves, as well as current Iowa State research. • Soybean Gall Midge: A new field crop pest (CROP 3157) by Erin Hodgson. Soybean gall midge is a relatively new pest that was first noticed in the Midwest in 2011, and can now be found in parts of Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota. This publication discusses the characteristics of soybean gall midge, how to spot the pest in soybean fields and how they can be managed. • Midwest Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers 2019 (FG 0600). This annual guide is a summary of suggested vegetable varieties, seeding rates, fertilizer rates, weed control, insect control and disease control measures for commercial growers. The recommendations are for commercial vegetable growers in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Ohio. • Evaluation of Soybean Varieties Resistant to Soybean Cyst Nematode in Iowa — 2018 (IPM 0052) by Greg Tylka, Gregory Gebhart, Christopher Marett and Mark Mullaney. Use of resistant soybean varieties is a very effective strategy for managing soybean cyst nematode. Numerous SCN-resistant soybean varieties are available for Iowa soybean growers. This report provides details by Iowa State University personnel who evaluate varieties each year. • 2019 Herbicide Guide for Iowa Corn and Soybean Production (WC 0094) by Bob Hartzler. This publication provides information on product and management updates, the role of preemergence herbicides in glyphosate resistant crops, corn and soybean herbicide effectiveness ratings, herbicide package mixes, and herbicide site of action and injury symptoms. Buy in bulk Need some materials for your winter in-service or presentations? Want to make sure your staff has the most up-to-date information at the palms of their hands? With four ISU Extension publications now offered at substantial savings in bulk quantities, you can be sure that everyone is armed and ready to counter next year’s insects, diseases and weeds. • Soybean Diseases, a recently updated, 40-page compendium on the vast array of diseases that impacts soybeans, depicting foliar and below-soil symptoms, scouting tips, and disease treatments and prevention across the Midwest. The guide has in full color, high-resolution images. Also included are illustrated disease cycles for many diseases, a foliar disease estimation chart, and soybean growth and development and staging information. This guide, available as single copies for $5 each, but can be ordered in boxed quantities of 50 for a reduced price of $3.50 per publication. • Corn Diseases, a recently updated, 48-page compendium on the vast array of diseases that impacts corn, depicting foliar and below-soil symptoms, scouting tips, and disease treatments and prevention across the Midwest. Guide has in full-color, high-resolution images. Also included are illustrated disease cycles for many diseases, a foliar disease estimation chart, and soybean growth and development and staging information. This guide, available as single copies for $5 each, can be ordered in boxed quantities of 50 for a reduced price of $3.50 per publication. • The Corn and Soybean Field Guide is a palm-sized compendium for quick reference, perfect for crop scouts. Complete with 375 pictures, illustrations, diagrams and tables, and printed on sturdy card stock so it’s able to weather the conditions you. Normally $15 for a single copy. However, if you purchase a bundle of 25, you only pay $10 per copy. • The Weed Identification Field Guide, Second Edition, much like the Corn and Soybean Field Guide, also is a palm-sized compendium for quick reference, perfect for crop scouts. Complete with 250 high-quality pictures and printed on sturdy card stock. Palmer amaranth information was added to the 108-page field guide, and information on herbicide resistance and management was updated from the first edition. Normally $10 per hard copy, this is priced less than $8. Source: Iowa State University, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.