Rotation should be viewed as a way to maintain or increase profits and improve soil cropping conditions. Although labor, equipment, and soil type all may limit the types of crops you can grow, rotation is still an essential component of any management plan. Whether your operation grows a few crops or many, crop rotation needs…
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Whether you’re battling pigweed, horseweed, or ragweed, herbicide-resistant weeds have declared war on farmers in North Carolina and across the United States. With the number of species and types of chemistries with resistance continuing to grow, it will take all weapons available to defend our farms. But replacing one herbicide chemistry with the next won’t…
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Fall is the time to think about nematode numbers in your fields. Nematodes are microscopic roundworms which may feed on the roots of plants. There are hundreds of different species of nematodes, but most are not economically important. Two that are of economic importance to North Carolina growers are root-knot nematode (RKN) and soybean cyst…
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Interest in cover crops is increasing as a number of groups have demonstrated higher yields and improved soil health from incorporating them into an operation. But adopting cover crops is not a one-size-fits-all solution for growers and there many different options that may provide different benefits for different operations. Cover crops have…
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As we wrap up 2017, it’s also time to start planning for 2018. One of the most important decisions a grower can make is which varieties they will plant. An important part of selecting a variety is selecting which (if any) herbicide tolerance is used. If you decide to use the dicamba tolerance technology (Xtend…
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Soybean growers in Pitt, Green, Lenoir, Wayne, Duplin, Sampson, and Robeson counties are eligible to apply for a Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) grant program through your NRCS office. This special program, called SmithfieldGro was begun by Smithfield Foods and the Environmental defense fund to help grain farmers improve their productivity, profitability,…
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While it is far enough along in the season to not be concerned about rust for the majority of our soybeans in North Carolina, some very late planted beans may still be at risk. Read the rust update below from Drs. Jim Dunphy and Lindsey Thiesen if you have beans that haven’t reached R5 yet.…
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You have spent the entire season caring for your soybean crop, hoping to produce the best crop possible. After all the time and inputs spent on the crop, too much is at risk to do a poor job harvesting. Spending a little time on combine efficiency may help increase yields by up to 10%. Studies…
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With over 75% of the soybean crop rated in good to excellent condition this year, we have a chance of seeing pretty respectable soybean yields across the state. Corn yields have also looked pretty good around the state thus far. How do these higher yields affect our soil nutrient levels? Well, the higher the yield,…
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As the end of the growing season nears, many growers are anxious to get their soybeans out of the field and into a bin where they are safe from the elements (especially after Matthew last year). Once soybeans are physiologically mature, nothing good is going to happen to them in the field. In addition, there…
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Now that we have escaped the wrath of Irma and Jose it’s finally time to start thinking about soybean harvest. Overall, the NC soybean crop looks to be in decent shape thus far. If we can get through the season with a few more timely rains and avoid any more hurricanes, yields in the state…
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Last week we discussed results from a NCDA&CS survey that revealed soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is a significant problem for North Carolina soybean growers. The survey found all counties in the eastern part of the state and a few counties with large soybean acreage in Western NC have the pest. Over 21% of the samples…
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