Farm Management

All Farm Management Content

A large soybean field being harvested. About half the field is harvested.

Soybean Investigations: Research on Your Farm Seeks Farmer Cooperators

SDSU Extension and the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council are seeking South Dakota Soybean Growers willing to participate in a farmer-led on-farm strip trial research program.

an image of a field of soybeans

Soybean Production: Cost-effective pest management practices

Chemicals were one of the most expensive individual costs in soybean production, behind only to seed in the non-land cost category. The average cash-rent soybean production farms incurred a crop chemical cost of $39/ac in 2015, an 88% increase from 2010.

large multi-row sprayer adding chemicals to a field

All Straight Dicamba Products Now Restricted Use in South Dakota

Starting April 30, 2018 all dicamba products that are not a mixture but instead straight dicamba are restricted use in South Dakota. This will mean all applicators will need to keep spray records of use and place of application.

South Dakota corn late plant date map. View pdf map: https://legacy.rma.usda.gov/fields/mt_rso/2018/final/sdcorn_grain_nonirrigated.pdf View text in Excel: https://legacy.rma.usda.gov/fields/mt_rso/2018/final/sdcorn_grain_nonirrigatedtext.xlsx

Late Plant Crop Insurance Dates

Crop insurance late plant dates are fast approaching for planting small grains in South Dakota. Late plant dates for corn, soybean, and sunflower are nearing as well. Producers will want to work with their crop insurance agent to explore planting options and reporting of prevent plant areas.

Brown roots with white spots on them. The white spots are SCN cysts that contain eggs. Smaller image shows a broken cyst with eggs coming out of it.

Test Your Soil for the Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) This Spring

The soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is a major soybean pathogen that causes significant yield loss. Fields that were not tested for SCN last year can still be sampled this spring to determine the presence of SCN or SCN population changes if testing was done in the past.

a no-till cornfield awaiting spring planting.

Planting Considerations and Resources for 2019

As May approaches, many farmers are preparing for row crop planting. In areas where flood waters have receded and soils are dry enough to begin field operations, farmers will likely be out in full swing soon.

Green soybean plant with epidermis peeled back revealing numerous orange larvae

Soybean Gall Midge: What We Know So Far

In 2018, South Dakota soybean farmers were faced with a new soybean insect pest. What started with dying field borders ultimately ended with yield losses throughout many fields on the Eastern side of the state. We determined that the pest in question was the soybean gall midge.

Green soybean plant with holes on the leaves (indicated by red arrows) caused by bean leaf beetle feeding.

Scout Soybeans for Bean Leaf Beetle Feeding

We are receiving numerous reports and also observing very large bean leaf beetle populations this year. As a result, there is also a lot of concern about soybean defoliation due to the emergence and subsequent feeding by the overwintering adult population.

Yellow and black beetle on green soybean leaf.

Watch for Bean Leaf Beetles

Some soybean in South Dakota has emerged and it is already being attacked by early-season bean leaf beetles. So far, observations of adult bean leaf beetles emerging from fields and defoliation of soybean have been in Southeastern South Dakota.

A yellow beetle with a black head, and square black markings on its back standing on a soybean leaf.

2019 South Dakota Overwintering Bean Leaf Beetle Predicted Mortality

Overwintering bean leaf beetle adults will soon start emerging as they do each spring. This overwintering generation is capable of causing serious defoliation injury to seedling soybean plants.