Farmers and ranchers have until Feb. 3 to submit initial applications for the Conservation Stewardship Program to the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS).

Michigan State University field crops entomologist Chris DiFonzo and University of Wisconsin entomologist Eileen Cullen recently updated and published their Handy Bt Trait Table. This great reference provides information for transgenic hybrids on the types of Bt proteins expressed, insects controlled, herbicide tolerance and refuge requirements for selected traits.

Every year Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach provides private pesticide applicator training covering a variety of pesticide safety and pest management issues. In response to reported incidences of Bt-resistant corn rootworm, a series of remote "clicker" questions were developed to survey current corn rootworm management practices and assess the degree to which farmers perceived resistance in 2012.

The latest re-registration is underway for metaldehyde and Lonza has decided to let corn and soybeans drop from the label.

Jim Hoene Improves Farming Operations Systematically with Conservation Practices, Including No-Till

University of Arkansas researchers visited Kip Cullers' contest field with the intent of documenting crop growth characteristics that would result in these yields, and study yield potential of soybeans under intensive management on a large scale with strip trials in eastern Arkansas.

Soybean cyst nematodes have the potential to cause devastating yield losses, population densities can increase very rapidly within a single growing season, and dormant eggs can survive for more than a decade in infested soils in the absence of soybeans.