Air May 21, 2003

Thank you Gary, and good morning everyone. It's nice when we keep getting those rains - but we need to remember that all we are getting is enough to keep us going - we haven't really had enough to start restoring lost subsoil moisture. Don't forget, next Tuesday, May 27th, Agronomy Farm Field Day at the Ashland Bottom Farm starting at 9:30 in the morning. Call me for directions and details.

There's a lot more stripe rust showing up in the wheat fields. And leaf rust is starting to move it's way into the south end of the state. Just giving you a heads up since there's not much you can do about it anyway. A quick thought on soybean seeding - always remember the inoculant. I don't care if this is the second year for soybeans, inoculant is not that expensive and it's better to be safe than sorry. Once you buy inoculant, keep it out of the sun and as cool as possible.

We are right in that time frame of optimum results from spraying brush in pastures. Basically late May through mid-June hits the best time for most brushy species we are trying to kill. Follow label directions, for rates and additives. It seems that everyone wants to use diesel in foliar sprays, but don't do it if the label doesn't call for it. Diesel can knock leaves off brush before the herbicide has a chance to be absorbed and translocated. For basal bark and stem treatment, go ahead and use the diesel as per label directions.

We've got a lot of alfalfa going down, most of it fairly timely too. Now, keep an eye on that regrowth. Once the weevil larvae pupate into the adult weevil they will hang around the alfalfa until hot weather moves them off into the timber for the rest of the summer. The weather we are having right now is going to entice the adults to stay in the field. If you don't see regrowth coming back like you think you should, it may be necessary to treat for adults. But don't make that decision from the seat of your pickup. Get out into the field and start looking. There could always be another problem that we need to be considering!

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2003.

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