Category Archives: Fertility

Some fields that missed showers for the ‘nth’ time this spring are dry without a doubt. The bigger corn is trying to twist during the warmest parts of the day and overall color is more variable even where side dress nitrogen has been applied.  Continue reading →

With corn out of the ground, one of our next steps is to get layby nitrogen on the crop. Nitrogen seems to be in good supply but price has gone up on urea, and delivery for some sources has been a little slow due to heavy demand around the U.S.   Some things to consider with nitrogen are rate and timing of material and the value of a stabilizer material.   Continue reading →

You can now follow us on Twitter, UTcrops@UTcrops.  Receive a tweet as news updates are posted on our blog, and re-tweet articles to your followers.

A number of people asked if we could make available the slides used during the Irrigation Workshop that was held in Jackson on February 23rd.  The slide shows can now be viewed at http://www.utcrops.com/presentations.htm.

A reminder that the annual Tennessee Grain and Soybean Conference will be held Thursday, February 2nd at the Dyer County Fairgrounds in Dyersburg.  Registration begins at 7:45 with the program beginning at 9:00.  Program details.

UT’s standard recommendation is to include an inoculant where soybeans will be planted into fields that have never been planted to soybean or where soybean has not been grown in the field in the past 3 to 5 years.  There are several products on the market that contain a single or even multiple strains of Rhizobium bacteria designed to improve root nodulation and help soybean roots fix nitrogen from the atmosphere into a usable form for the plant.  Since the soybean must make 50 to 75% of its required nitrogen through this process this is pretty important stuff.  With the hectic weather this spring creating flooding and instances where lime was not applied timely folks should include an inoculant in the following situations: Continue reading →

Another title for this article might be “It’s hard to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.”  This doesn’t affect everyone, but I have had enough calls this spring from folks who are looking at commodity prices and have already started the process or are thinking about taking an old pasture or sod field and converting it into either corn or soybeans.  Well maintained ’new ground’ can yield very well and often has less disease and nematode pressure.  However, it may be impossible to make poor ground into a productive field if compaction or low soil pH cannot be corrected in time for the cropping season or at all.  Input costs must be weighed against realistic yield potential– particularly in fields that have not been limed or fertilized regularly for years.  Continue reading →

Many of you have heard about the budget reductions that were passed by the House of Representatives last week. The Smith-Lever cuts, if approved by the Senate Continue reading →

Wheat Growth and Development

Successful wheat management requires understanding of how the wheat plant grows and develops. You should make management decisions and apply inputs, such as nitrogen, fungicides, herbicides and insecticides, at the proper stages of growth, not according to calendar dates. Continue reading →