Plants or Crops
All Plants or Crops Content
McFadden and Borlaug: Pioneering Rust-Resistant Wheat
During a brief period of time in the Dakota Territory in the late 1800’s, wheat acreage increased from just over 100,000 acres to well over a million acres. During one year in the height of this heyday, 1897, it has been stated that two-thirds of the world’s wheat was shipped from present-day Eureka, SD, and wagons bearing the crop rolled in from as far as 75 miles away.
Wheat Seed Testing, Pure Live Seed, and Seeding Rates
To legally sell wheat seed in South Dakota, a standard test—following Association of Official Seed Analysts (AOSA) seed testing protocols, for germination, purity, and noxious weeds—is required. This standard analysis, plus a seed count provides information needed to determine the seeding rate.
The Difficulty in Winter Wheat Stand Assessments
From freak snow storms to sub-zero temperatures and on to a recent lack of moisture and a cool spring, the climate in South Dakota has left many winter wheat growers and agronomists wondering about the health of their stands.
Glyphosate Resistance in Soybeans
Many weeds have developed glyphosate resistance in the past few years. Many producers who use Roundup Ready soybeans have a temptation to rely on glyphosate products to control post-emergent weeds, causing them to potentially become resistant to the chemical. If producers are unable to gain control over the weed, then weed competition will cause a significant yield loss.
Harvesting For Maximum Soybean Yields
Numerous studies have been conducted over the last 40 years on soybean combine losses which show that yield loss can be as high as 15 percent.
Plant Nutrient Analysis: Do your soybeans have the right stuff?
There has been a renewed interest in taking samples of soybean leaves for nutrient analysis as a quality control tool to ensure soil and the fertilizer programs are meeting the needs of the plant to eliminate nutrients as a yield limiting factor.
SDSU Research Shows Effects Of Volunteer Corn In Corn And Soybeans
In 2007, researchers at South Dakota State University indicated that volunteer corn is much less competitive in corn than soybean. The South Dakota study (Alms et al. 2007) evaluated the full season effect of a range of volunteer corn densities (800-14,000 plants/acre) on both corn and soybean and reported yield losses that ranged from 0% to 13% in corn and 0% to 54% in soybean.
Spring Dandelion Control In Soybeans
Dandelion has become much more of a problem as farming practices have changed. Less tillage and increased use of glyphosate resistant crops along with reduced use of residual herbicides have allowed some perennial weeds such as dandelion to prevail.
Foliar Fertilization for Soybeans
There has been much press and interest for foliar fertilization of soybean - especially for micronutrients based on plant analysis. In general, foliar fertilization has not proven effective unless there is severe deficiency of a particular nutrient.
Nitrogen Credit: The Rest of the Story
We have all been programmed to think of soybean as fixing nitrogen from the atmosphere and adding nitrogen to the soil. The SDSU lab and most other labs give nitrogen “credit” when another crop follows soybeans.