Being able to predict when a field of corn will reach particular leaf stages can be useful for scheduling post-emergence applications of certain herbicides and sidedress N fertilizer, especially if your farming operation is so large that regular field inspections are difficult to work into your busy schedule. Leaf stage can be predicted on the basis of heat unit accumulation (aka growing degree days) from planting to the date in question.

As past experience has taught many of us that live in the "frozen tundra," a Wisconsin spring can appear rapidly, so here are a few thoughts to mull over before we all get busy and throw recommendations out the window to get those crops in the ground.

Because of the dramatic swings in air temperature that we've experienced already this spring, we've received a few questions about the effect of air temperatures on our spring burndown applications. Specifically, most people are asking, "When is it too cold to apply a burndown herbicide?" and "What are the conditions that lead to poor weed control following a burndown herbicide application?"

Precision farming technology that will allow reduced herbicide use by accurately identifying and spot-spraying weeds, developed from research funded by the Horticultural Development Company (HDC), is to go into commercial production.

Check out the latest crop protection offerings from some of the industry's leading suppliers.

Cover crops can be excellent systems to capture excess nutrients and reduce the risk of erosion over the winter months.

From visiting with retailers the past month it is very apparent there will be a major shortage of dicamba for burndown again this spring. A number of folks from different retailers have stated that they have been allocated only a fraction of all the dicamba they sold two years ago.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture opened the door Friday to commercial sales of corn and soybean seeds genetically engineered to resist the weed killer 2,4-D, which is best known as an ingredient in the Vietnam War-era herbicide Agent Orange.

Nufarm announces a new line of herbicide products that will offer soybean, cotton, peanut and corn growers effective, economical options for controlling herbicide resistant/tolerant weed species at all phases of the growing season. The CATS (Combating Troublesome Species) herbicide line will provide a range of solutions that will deliver control of numerous herbicide-tolerant or -resistant species in soybeans, corn and cotton.

Nov. 26, 2013 Environmental conditions influence the activity and weed control achieved with any herbicide.