Air August 8, 2001

Thank you Mark, and good morning everyone. Well, the fair got over with, the rain went away and it stayed hot. No surprise there. We are continuing to see webworms in both alfalfa and soybeans. I think that mid to late week last week, we went through a generational break. I was not finding very many larvae in either alfalfa or beans, but I was seeing a lot of the adult moths. Which means that they were out there mating and laying eggs. They are going to go to the lushest vegetation first which will probably be soybeans. If you have more than 50% defoliation you need to spray. If you are seeing more than 30% defoliation I would consider getting on top of it and having it sprayed. We simply have too many this year and I’m afraid we don’t need any more stress on those plants. Watch the regrowth on the alfalfa carefully. If you start to see webworms on over 1/3 of the plants, I’d get it sprayed.

As we all suspected, the weeds and volunteer wheat are coming on strong in those stubble fields. I saw one field that had been chiseled and disked that was just as lush green as a new lawn last week. We always want to make sure that we have that volunteer destroyed at least two weeks before wheat planting. If you think you need that volunteer wheat for feed, then bring the cattle off the pastures now and flash graze it. But grazing isn’t good enough. It has to be tilled under or dead two weeks prior to wheat planting. Now, if you also find that you have a little bindweed out in those stubble fields, now might be a good time to treat for that as well. If you’re going back to wheat this fall, you can use some 2,4-D and Banvel mixed with Roundup. If you want to use a half pint of Tordon, which would give you some excellent bindweed control, then remember that you need a 45 day window between treatment and wheat planting. Tordon is labeled for a full pint ahead of wheat, but you need 60 days before planting, and at a full pint rate, you probably will see some stand reduction in the wheat. Go with the lighter rate and just plan to hit it again next summer. If you are thinking about going to soybeans next spring, DO NOT use Tordon, You’re just asking for trouble!

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2001.

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