If we could predict or know that the planting season during 2014 would be like it was in 2012 (the dry spring), then we would say don't treat your seed at all. But if the season is like this past year, wet, the combinations of seed treatments did a much better job and at the higher rates. There have been lots of questions over the past few days on what fungicides to apply; what rates to use; and are insecticides always necessary. Here we try to parse it all out for you.

Steve Duwe understands the anxiety that comes with heavy rains and the havoc they can wreak on fields in the fall. In 2008, extreme flooding pushed corn harvest back, and an early winter prevented him from doing any fall tillage.

Corn and soybean harvest continues to move along in Illinois, and as the 2013 crops come off, thoughts turn to fall fertilization. In this article we'll discuss nutrients other than nitrogen. This will be followed soon by an article on nitrogen.

Strip-tillers who use soil tests to find where essential nutrients are located in the upper soil profile can better optimize fertilizer placement.

When Nick Viney partnered with Josh Trautman to form Badgerland Grain Farms LLC in 2006, they started with just 155 acres in south-central Wisconsin. But during the last 7 years, they've grown their Evansville, Wis.-based operation to more than 1,800 acres, an even split of strip-till corn and no-till soybeans, with about 180 acres of no-till wheat.

The Mid-Atlantic region is about to get to know another invasive stink bug species, the kudzu bug

This spring's cool, wet weather is making difficult for Iowa farmers to plant their soybeans and making it easier for a well-known pest to affect this year's crop. Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), a soil-borne fungus, is a disease that is highly dependent on the weather and the resistance level of the planted soybean varieties.

Building fall strips without fertilizer offers Brandon Hunnicutt cropping flexibility and more precise nutrient placement.

A 3-year onfarm study in Minnesota shows that strip-tilling corn and soybeans saves $14 per acre vs. disk-ripping and chisel plowing, says Jodi DeJong-Hughes, a University of Minnesota Extension crops educator.

Trying strip-till on a small scale, using auto-steer when strip-tilling and taking advantage of cost-sharing programs are some of the ways prospective and current strip-tillers can improve their bottom line, says Dave Nelson, a Ft. Dodge, Iowa, strip-tiller.