Skip to content

MN Crop News: Small grains disease; Cover crop residue and C:N ratios

MN Crop News: Small grains disease; Cover crop residue and C:N ratios

Early season disease control in small grains

Memorial Day weekend is often the first time that reports of leaf diseases reach my desk.  I call tan spot my ‘canary-in-a-coal-mine’ for small grains diseases, in part, because it requires a shorter leaf wetness period from either rain or dew and lower temperatures to start initial infections compared to either leaf rust or Septoria spp.

Read the blog post.


Small grains disease risk assessment tools: A sad farewell for now

For almost two decades the Minnesota Wheat Research & Promotion Council and the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers funded the  mawg.cropdisease.com disease risk assessment tool for Fusarium head blight and the three economically most important fungal leaf diseases of wheat.

Read the blog post.


Cover crop residue and C:N ratios

At this time of year, cover crops are being sprayed with herbicide to make way for cash crop growth.  What will happen to the residue remaining on the soil surface? Pretty soon the cover crop will start decomposing, where its leaves and roots break down into molecules that soil animals, bacteria, and fungi use.  

Read the blog post.


Field School for Ag Professionals is on for 2021!

Registration is now open for the 2021 Field School for Ag Professionals, which will be held July 20 & 21 at the University of Minnesota Agriculture Experiment Station in St. Paul. This two-day event is the premier summer training opportunity that combines hands-on training with real world field scenarios.  

Read the blog post.


Gopher Coffee Shop podcast: Soil health

In this installment, Extension educators Ryan Miller and Brad Carlson sit down with Anna Cates, University of Minnesota Extension Specialist in Soil Health with the Minnesota Office of Soil Health (MOSH). We visit with Anna about soil health, and have a discussion about soil organic matter and its role in crop production.    

Read the blog post.

Source: U of MN Extension/MN Crop News