Plant and Animal Health

Wet soil conditions have caused delays in planting and in efforts to control existing weed vegetation. Much of the existing weed growth is comprised of winter annual species, such as common chickweed, henbit, purple deadnettle, etc., but emergence of several summer annual species also has begun....More

If there’s any good news in the herbicide-resistant weed situation in Iowa, it’s that most Iowa growers still have a little time to stay out in front of the issue...but maybe not as much time as you’d like....More

Field history and weather patterns are important in determining how to best manage crop diseases, says Kiersten Wise, a Purdue plant pathologist. Many organisms that cause crop diseases can survive in the soil and residue for several years. The fungi that cause sudden death syndrome, or SDS, and Phytophthora root rot are two examples in soybeans. Foliar and ear rot diseases, such as Goss's wilt and Aspergillus ear rot, are examples in corn....More

Seedling diseases and seed rot accounted for more than 20% of soybean establishment problems in the past five years, and farmers had to replant almost 20% of affected acres. (This comes from a March 2012 survey of Midwestern and Southeastern certified crop advisors in 12 major soybean-producing states as part of a soybean seedling disease study.)...More