Let’s Talk Crops 2024
Crop producers and agricultural professionals face a host of challenges, including pests and pest resistance concerns, agronomic issues, and soil fertility questions. The Strategic Farming program will address your crop-related concerns in a weekly, research-based webinar with specialists in the field.
Let’s talk crops features a live webinar with interactive discussions addressing the latest research on crop production issues. The series begins Wednesday, January 10, 2024, and continues through March 27 on Wednesday mornings from 9 to 10 a.m. Weekly topics include grain marketing strategies, pushing soybean maturities, maximizing herbicide efficacy, nutrient and pest management strategies, cover crops, and much more.
Can’t make the live session? No problem. Each session will be recorded and available in the 2024 Strategic Farming resources section lower on this page.
You need to register only once and may attend any or all of the webinars.
2024 Let’s talk crops!
Recordings from the 2024 series will be posted here shortly after they air.
Recording link and resources will be posted post-webinar.
Strategic Farming: Field notes (growing season only)
Field Notes is an interactive, discussion-based podcast for farmers and agricultural professionals recorded during the growing season to address crop-related concerns. Listen at your convenience.
2023 Let's talk crops!
Watch the recordings from the 2023 series and look over resources at your convenience.
Brian Luck, Associate Professor and Vice Chair of the University of Wisconsin Biological Systems Engineering Department, discusses planter adjustments that are important to consider before planters get rolling this April. Seth Naeve, UMN Extension soybean agronomist, joins the discussion on early planting trends and reviews new national resources for soybean growers developed by the Science for Success Agronomy team.
Watch the recorded webinar: Getting your planters ready for spring
Bob Koch, Extension entomologist, discusses new and old insect pests in soybean. Is the new leaf miner a big deal? How about soybean gall midge? Get a status update on these new pests and the old, including soybean aphid.
Watch the recorded webinar: Soybean pests: What's up with the new and old - are they a big deal?
Additional resources
Soybean gall midge: Learn more about soybean gall midge identification, its impact on soybean, and potential management strategies.
Soybean aphid: Learn more about soybean aphid identification, its life cycle, and scouting and management.
Keep an eye out for a potential new pest: Soybean tentiform leafminer - MN Crop News
Insecticide resistance management in soybean: Learn more about how insecticide resistance develops and strategies you can use to prevent it or slow it down.
Managing alfalfa weevil larvae has become more complicated with increasing pyrethroid resistance issues and the loss of chlorpyrifos as a management tool. Join Craig Sheaffer, Extension forage agronomist, and Anthony Hanson, Extension crops educator, as they discuss these and other challenges, including winter injury potential.
Watch the recorded webinar: Alfalfa weevil and other alfalfa management challenges
Tar spot of corn was problematic in portions of Minnesota last year. It can spread rapidly, develop quickly, and cause significant yield loss. Since tar spot is a relatively new disease, it’s one to watch for. Dean Malvick, Extension plant pathologist, and Darcy Telenko, Extension field crop pathologist from Purdue University, tackle questions from tar spot basics to management.
Watch the recorded webinar: Corn tar spot: Distribution, development and management
Additional resources
Tar spot distribution map: Map from ipmPIPE showing where tar spot has been confirmed and real-time scouting reports.
Fungicide efficacy for control of corn diseases: Fungicide efficacy ratings developed by the Corn Disease Working Group of the Crop Protection Network.
Tar spot of corn: Description of the corn disease and management guidelines from the Crop Protection Network.
Jochum Wiersma, Extension small grains specialist, discusses the benefits of including small grains in your crop rotation and the challenges of using winter cereals as cover crops.
Watch the recorded webinar: Expanding your rotation with small grains
Can I cut N rates if I plant a cover crop? Will planting green hurt my cash crop? How do I best fit cover crops into my cropping system? Anna Cates, State soil health specialist, and Monica Schauer, Research specialist at University of Wisconsin-Madison, discuss key FAQs around cover crops and more.
Watch the recorded webinar: Let’s talk cover crops FAQs
Weeds take the top spot as the most problematic pest problem farmers manage. Debalin Sarangi discusses the current state of herbicide resistance as well as new and traditional weed management technologies.
Watch the webinar: Weed management in an era of increasing herbicide resistance
Additional resources
Products that claim to make nutrients more available, reduce crop stress, stimulate microbial activity and more – what does the research show us? Join Seth Naeve, Extension soybean agronomist, and Dan Kaiser, Extension nutrient management specialist, for a discussion around the logic of biologicals in corn and soybean.
Watch the recorded webinar: Biologicals on corn and soybean
Rex Bernardo, UMN maize breeder, and Aaron Lorenz, UMN soybean breeder, discuss U of MN research on semi-dwarf corn and the advantages this corn might provide. Breeding efforts around soybean cyst nematode (SCN), a major yield robber in soybean, will also be discussed as field populations of SCN adapt to our current tools.
Watch the recorded webinar: Short stature corn and SCN breeding efforts
Nitrogen is a dynamic nutrient. Nitrogen availability and fertilizer need are heavily influenced by environmental factors like soil type, rainfall, and temperature. Join Dan Kaiser, Extension nutrient management specialist, and Brad Carlson, Extension educator - water, as they discuss how current climate factors are influencing our nitrogen management strategies.
Watch the recorded webinar: Climate factors and nitrogen management
Additional Resources
- Nitrogen smart offerings
- The fundamentals of nitrogen cycling and management
- MN Crop News
- For list of all Strategic Farming sessions: https://z.umn.edu/strategic-farming
Join Anthony Hanson, Extension educator - crops, and Bruce Potter, IPM specialist as they discuss how to plan for corn insect pests in 2023 and manage insecticide resistance concerns.
Watch the recorded webinar: What's bugging my corn? An outlook on corn rootworm and more
Additional Resources:
Ed Usset, U of MN Extension grain marketing economist, and Assistant State Climatologist Pete Boulay from the DNR look ahead to 2023 and discuss weather, economic and supply chain forecasts.
Watch the webinar on YouTube: Forecast for the season: Weather, economics and supply chains
Additional resources
- U. S. Drought monitor - University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- USDA 2022 Crop production summary
- World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE)