Extension is expanding its online education and resources to adapt to COVID-19 restrictions.
Strategic Farming: Let's talk crops!
A 2021 webinar series
Let's talk crops! This Strategic Farming 12-part series will provide up-to-date, research-based information to help you optimize your crop management strategies for 2021. Sessions will run every Wednesday morning from 8:30 to 9:00 am, from January 6 to March 24.
We hope you'll join us to discuss some of the key issues and questions around crop production facing Minnesota farmers today.
Pull up a chair and join in or bring the conversation with you as you go about your day. These online sessions will be very informal and open to all interested.
Each session will start with a brief presentation (about 10 minutes) by the discussion leaders for the day, followed by 20 minutes of discussion, framed around farmer/participant questions on the topic.
Speakers for the series include researchers and educators from the University of MN and North Central region, as well as area agency personnel.
2021 Let's talk crops resources
Watch the recordings from the 2021 series and look over resources at your convenience.
What criteria should you used when selecting a corn hybrid? How do hybrid maturities affect your bottom line? What about hybrid selection and disease resistance? Watch the recording for answers to these questions and hybrid trial results with Dr. Jeff Coulter, Extension corn agronomist, Tom Hoverstad, Researcher from Southern Research and Outreach Center and Dr. Dean Malvick, Extension plant pathologist.
2020 Webinar resources
The 2020 Strategic Farming webinar series provided up-to-date crop production strategies to optimize inputs for the growing season. The series included 5 one-hour webinars with university specialists; each webinar focused on a different topic area.
Here you'll find the recorded webinars and additional resources for each session.
Fertilizer can separate the most profitable producers from the rest of the pack. While fertilizer is a critical component for high yields, spending too much on fertilizer can really cut into your bottom line. This webinar discusses how to get fertility right for top yields and maximum profit.
Presented by Dan Kaiser, Nutrient management specialist and Brad Carlson, Extension educator
Moderated by Ryan Miller, Extension educator
Additional resources will be added soon.
Additional resources
University of Minnesota nutrient management
Resources for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and micro- and secondary nutrient recommendations, crop-specific needs, liming, and soil testing and interpretation.
Research-based fertilizer rates by crop
Nitrates in Minnesota drainage water
Strategies to avoid nitrate losses from cropping systems that can both protect the environment and reduce fertilizer costs.
Soybean management can be complex and this webinar helps you sort out what you need, what you don’t need and what you might want to try. Also with the advent of insecticide resistant soybean aphid do we need to be rethinking our management strategy?
Presented by Seth Naeve, Soybean agronomist and Bob Koch, Soybean entomologist
Moderated by Ryan Miller, Extension educator
Additional resources will be added soon.
Additional resources
University of Minnesota Extension soybean website
Variety selection, planting, growth and development, pest management, and harvest and storage production information.
There are a number of important considerations when deciding which cover crops fit best with your operation. In this webinar, we discuss U of MN research to help match cover crop management strategies with your goals. Research results on potential benefits and limitations will be highlighted, with a particular emphasis on impacts on cash crop yield and nutrient management.
Presented by Axel Garcia y Garcia, Agronomist - Sustainable crop systems and Paulo Pagliari, Nutrient management specialist
Moderated by Liz Stahl, Extension educator
Additional resources will be available soon.
Additional resources
University of Minnesota cover crop website
Benefits, selection, establishment, maintenance, utilization and termination of cover crops.
Minnesota cover crop recipes
These recipes provide step-by-step guidance to some of the lowest-risk starting points for cover crops. They don’t cover the whole spectrum of possibilities, but they can help beginners get most pieces in place to incorporate cover crops into a farm operation.
Midwest Cover Crop Decision Tool
Select cover crops based on how it will be used, soil drainage, cash crop and flood risk.
The soybean gall midge: Will this insect drive changes in Minnesota soybean production?
Learn the latest information on this new Minnesota pest.
New disease challenges: Tar spot in corn and frogeye leaf spot in soybean
Soybean and corn crops continue to be challenged by various diseases. Some have long been in MN and we manage them with various levels of success, while others such as tar spot of corn and frogeye leaf spot of soybean are new and pose new potential risks and challenges.
Presented by Bruce Potter, Extension IPM specialist, and Dr. Dean Malvick, Extension plant pathologist
Moderated by Angie Peltier, Extension educator
Additional resources
Online unbiased, collaborative resources on important issues affecting field crops in the United States and Canada. The CPN is a product of Land Grant Universities.
Soybean gall midge in Minnesota soybean
How to identify and scout for this new pest and its impact on soybean.
- Soybean gall midge not only small orange fly larvae in Minnesota - Minnesota Crop News
- Soybean gall midge: Another insect pest of Minnesota soybeans (poster)
Update on tar spot in corn - Crop News, October 2019
Tar spot of corn - Gopher Coffee Shop podcast
Symptoms, conditions that favor this disease and how to manage it.
With the multitude of crop herbicide resistant trait packages available, chemical weed control has become more complicated, especially as herbicide resistant weeds continue to cause management challenges. A good understanding of weed biology and trait package options along with results from field trials implementing chemical and non-chemical methods will help you get the most out of your weed management investment.
Presented by Lisa Behnken and Jared Goplen, Extension educators - crops
Moderated by Ryan Miller, Extension educator - crops
Additional resources
Herbicide resistant traits in Minnesota and North Dakota
This guide clarifies which herbicides can be applied to various trait packages for our major crops.
Herbicide resistance management
Several articles with strategies for preventing and managing herbicide resistance.