Airing August 29 - September 2, 2005

Seasonal odd jobs

This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. I don't think we could have asked for better conditions for late August and early September than what we've been dealt right now. I told you a month ago that this was going to be a great fall to plant alfalfa. If you don't have that seed in the ground, get it in quick. I've been seeing a lot of recently worked wheat stubble fields turning awfully green of late. Volunteer wheat is sprouting up like hair on a dogs back, and it wouldn't surprise me to find some of the cheat and downey and Japanese borme sprouting already. This is a great time to get a lot of that unwanted seed sprouted and destroyed. Just remember we've got that two weeks prior to wheat planting window that we want to adhere to. The rainfall is also creating a lot of new growth on field bindweed. This would be an excellent opportunity, over the next month, to do some hammering on this stuff. Even just 2,4-D and dicamba at this time of year can do an excellent job of controlling bindweed. One of the glphosate products along with 2,4-D or dicamba will also work quite well. And if your crop rotation allows, Tordon 22K can be awfully hard to beat. A lot of options, but a brief window to exercise those options in. Let's take advantage. A few questions are starting to come in about foliar spraying of trees and brush, especially if they have new growth on them. The problem is that quite honestly, even if there is new growth, foliar treatment of woody perennials now is questionable. Sure the plant is pulling resources underground now, but it's awfully hard to get herbicide in to get taken down too! This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Sorghum Insect Pests

This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. I have to admit that the sorghum crop looks as good as I can remember it in recent years. But we also know that sorghum is not a plant immune from insect problems and late summer is when we really need to monitor possible problems. Grasshoppers have been sporadic this year and the rain has certainly helped keep this perennial pest at bay. I have seen a few fields with minor feeding along field edges, but so far nothing to justify treatment. You may hear a bit of talk about sorghum webworm, but this pest is rarely a problem this far north in Kansas. Sorghum webworm and Corn Earworm both feed on developing milo heads. Corn earworms we will have every year and I will talk about them in a few minutes. Sorghum webworm is a fuzzy small striped worm. The larvae are active from August to October. Once the soghum seed in the head starts to go past soft dough, they quit feeding. Treatment thresholds are five or more worms per head, average. I doubth that we will ever see that many around here. Corn Earworm, sometimes called sorghum headworm, is another story though. An average of two corn earworm per head can cause yield loss of 5 to 10%. They primarily are going to be causing damage from bloom up to milk stage. If we are past milk stage and into dough stage, the damage will cease pretty quick. We had populations that were justifying treatment 10 to 14 days ago. But most of the milo is moving past the stage where it should be at risk. However, if you have a late planted field that is just blooming or in those early stages, keep an eye on it - it could be a problem. This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

Soybean Insect Pests

This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. I don't know if you've been out in your soybean fields looking lately, but there's been many things at work! I think we were all so focused on soybean rust that we've almost forgotten all the other things that can happen. First of all bean leaf beetles. These rascals are smallish tannish beetles with square spots on their backs. They look a little bit like a small ladybug or corn rootworm beetle. They eat holes in the leaves and more importantly, they can feed on pods causing loss of beans in those pods. Last week I was seeing fields that justified treatment. Start walking around through your fields. If you start to see a lot of leaves that are really chewed full of holes, start looking at the individual pods. Are the beetles also feeding on the pods and are they doing so such that beans are at risk of being lost? If there are 3 or more seeds per plant that are being lost, you may well need to spray, especially if you have a lot of small, still developing beans and pods. But wait, the fun doesn't stop there. We are also on the look out for soybean stem borer. This pest will show itself when just individual sets of leaves or branches just turn brown and die. Two more pests could show up that might require some action. The green cloverworm and corn earworm. Both of these can be late season pests, causing problems well into September. Corn Earworms can feed on pods and probably need to consider treatment ifyou are finding one earworm per foot of row. Green Cloverworms are primarily foliage feeder and I would hope we are getting past the worst part of their season, but if they exceed about 15 per foot of row, we may have to do something. This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent.

This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent.

This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent.

This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.

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