Now that the 2019 corn and soybean harvest is in full swing, it is not too early to start thinking about and planning for the 2020 growing season as well. For soybean farmers in Iowa, a critically important fall activity that can pay large dividends is soil sampling to determine soybean cyst nematode (SCN) population densities in fields in which soybeans will be grown in 2020.

In case you missed them, here are the items that have garnered the most interest from other farmers in the month of October.

It doesn’t happen every year, but it does occur — snow accumulation before harvest is complete. Here are some considerations and tips from Iowa State University for dealing with this unfortunate situation.

According to NASS, Illinois producers harvested 36 percent of the corn crop and 52 percent of the soybean crop by October 20. That’s still behind the average pace of harvest, but harvest continues in many areas this week, and as it progresses, fields in many areas are becoming available for fall field work to begin.