Factors that stress corn throughout the growing season can lead to stalk rots, which can lead to yield loss due to premature plant death or lodging. Understanding stalk rots risk factors and management practices are critical.

It is a common belief that high heat and humidity are ideal for corn growth. In reality, high temperatures, especially high nighttime temperatures, can reduce corn yield potential by increasing respiration.

Zipper ears, or ears with missing kernel rows, are a result of stress during pollination or grain fill. Ears affected by zippering have kernels that developed poorly or more slowly than other kernels or have ovules that aborted shortly after pollination. It’s important to understand how and why zipper ears occur and how to minimize their occurrence in the future.

Northern corn rootworm (NCRW) is one of the most damaging corn pests in North America. Because the NCRW typically has a one-year life cycle, rotating corn with another crop has been a successful management strategy. Unfortunately, some populations of NCRW have successfully adapted to a corn soybean rotation and now have a two-year life cycle. This is called extended diapause because the eggs remain dormant in the soil for almost two years before hatching.

Sudden death syndrome (SDS) is one of the most detrimental diseases in soybeans due to limited management options. Correctly diagnosing the disease in the current season can help growers manage its spread in successive seasons.

Flooding affects fields differently based on a variety of factors. Manage flooded corn to minimize damage and ensure optimum plant health and yields.

It can be difficult to schedule irrigation, herbicide application and harvest if you don’t have a good handle on corn maturity. Identifying the milkline and blacklayer will help gauge the stage of corn growth and estimate physiological maturity.

Corn rootworm is one of the most damaging pests in the Corn Belt. Don't let corn rootworm rob your yields. Scout for the pest by digging for larvae. Jeff Housman, Mycogen Seeds customer agronomist, walks through how to do root digs to find corn rootworm to evaluate the damage in your fields.

Since their 2000 United States debut, soybean aphids have proven to reduce yields by up to 40 percent while exposing soybean crops to other potential pest problems. Under the right circumstances, insecticide applications can help growers manage crop losses.

Waterlogged and completely submerged soybean plants can significantly reduce yields. When dealing with flooded soybeans, take into account the following conditions that can damage the crop.

Heavy wind and rain late in the growing season can dramatically affect corn. Flooding, downed plants and disease are just a few of the potential management challenges related to extreme weather. Consider your options for recovering as much value as possible and take precautions when storing and feeding damaged corn.

When a spring alfalfa seeding has failed due to wet soils, weather, disease problems or unexpected herbicide carryovers, or when an older stand is deemed unproductive, late summer planting allows a grower to establish alfalfa fields with a good chance for success, sometimes with better odds than spring seeding.

Greensnap occurs when wind causes corn stalk breakage. This yield-robbing phenomenon is most prevalent in the central and western Corn Belt, where high winds are common. Corn is most susceptible to greensnap during the five- to eight-leaf stages and again from the 12th-leaf stage to one week after silking. During these rapid growth stages, lignin is not deposited into the new cells, leaving them brittle and vulnerable.

Protect your crop by scouting sunflower fields for insects, which can appear at different crop maturity stages throughout the growing season. Establish action thresholds for each insect based on population to help determine when an insecticide application is economically sensible.

A bacterial disease that has been prevalent in areas of the western Corn Belt for decades, Goss’s wilt has expanded to additional areas of the central and eastern Corn Belt in recent years. If infections occur early in the season, during key crop development times, yield potential can be reduced by up to 50 percent.

Caused by the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, soybean white mold has been problematic since the early 1990s, becoming more damaging in recent years.

Warm, moist conditions from July to September can cause increased disease incidence in corn. Recent studies have show potential economic benefits from foliar fungicide applications. Fungicide treatments can give protective or curative benefits for corn diseases such as: gray leaf spot, common rust, eyespot and antracnose. These diseases can limit photosynthesis due to tissue death. Loss of leaf tissue also may result in grain production loss or harvest loss due to weakened stalk strength and harvestability issues.

Excessive rainfall can accelerate stem canker development in soybean fields, causing devastating yield reductions of up to 90 percent. Effective field management and surveillance practices can preserve crop health.

Spider mites can be a major corn pest in western regions of the United States. Mite infestations damage corn by removing photosynthates from the leaves, resulting in loss of leaf tissue, stalk breakage, kernel shrink and premature death. Damage from spider mites may lead to yield or tonnage loss and poor quality silage with low relative feed value.

Ensuring fertility is critical to maximizing sunflower yield and profit, but applying fertilizer improperly could result in crop damage and yield loss. Soil tests can help determine nutrient availability and deficiencies.

Several methods provide growers with a reasonable estimate of corn hybrids’ relative maturity, but differences among rating systems sometimes confuse growers. Are you familiar with each method?

The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is an invasive species that is causing economic damage to fruit, vegetable and agronomic crops in the Mid-Atlantic states. The insect now is expanding its range westward across the Corn Belt.

The final application of irrigation water can help corn reach peak yield potential. Manage your crops with effective and responsible use of water resources.

Iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC) of soybeans is a physiological disease caused by iron deficiency capable of sizable reductions in yield potential. Know and understand how to mitigate your risks.

Southern rust is a common threat to corn crops across the southern United States. The disease damages crops in the Corn Belt only about once every five years, but when it does yields may be cut by more than 40 percent.

If foliar diseases threaten brown midrib corn (BMR) silage fields, growers can mitigate risks under the right circumstances with proactive management. Are you familiar with best practices for protecting your silage crop?

Hailstorms regularly strike growing corn fields. But not all damage is created equal. Know how to accurately assess yield loss.

Growers across the High Plains are constantly looking for the crop option with the most return opportunity per acre. Sunflowers as a late-planted double crop bring production challenges, but offer lower inputs with high crop value to maximize profit potential.

Cutworms can devastate sunflower plant stands if left unchecked and untreated. Perhaps their biggest asset is grower underestimation of the damage that can occur. Before planting, consider best practices for protecting your crop.

In Midwest alfalfa fields, potato leafhoppers can cause significant problems for alfalfa growers by reducing yield, quality and stand longevity. Scouting alfalfa stands for these pests is crucial to alleviating future headaches.

Charcoal rot is one of the most damaging diseases for soybeans in the South, causing up to 50 percent yield loss in extreme situations. Identification and prevention methods are vital for protection against this stress-induced disease.

Nutrient deficiency symptoms are not always caused by a lack of nutrients in the soil. Other factors can be to blame, such as poor root development, unfavorable soil conditions or weather. Plant tissue sampling helps identify the problem and determine corrective action.

Blackleg can be found in most canola fields throughout the northern Plains and much of North America. Though the disease is common, diligent growers can overcome its effects.

Traditionally a headache for soybean growers in Southern states, frogeye leaf spot is an increasing concern for growers in the central Corn Belt and soybean-producing states such as Indiana, Illinois and Iowa because of recent weather patterns. What is this yield-limiting foliar disease and how can growers manage it?

Historically, sunflower stem weevils have mostly caused sunflower stalk lodging damage. However, in recent years the longhorned beetle also has become a concern. Growers who can identify the problem can escape the financial penalty.

Hail storms can have varying impacts on soybeans each year. Accurately assessing the situation can help you estimate potential yield loss.