I think it is high time that I write to inform you about my Ph.D. research at Iowa State University where I studied the impact of cover crops on the soybean cyst nematode (SCN).
When I started my Ph.D. at Iowa State in 2015, the topic of cover crops and SCN was *fire emoji* hot! And when...
I’m always looking for a reason to talk about my dog because, well, I’m obsessed with him. I think I can use him to draw a good analogy of the importance of season-long scouting in your soybean fields. Let me put it like this: my dog is a living thing that I care for deeply. As he cannot talk, I am...
Tar spot on corn is here to stay in Illinois. Given that the pathogen that causes tar spot on corn can overwinter in infected residue, once the pathogen is in a field, it is more likely to be problematic in that field in the future. If you’ve been a victim of high incidence and/or severity of corn...
The Northwest Illinois Agriculture Research and Demonstration Center outside of Monmouth, Illinois will be holding an Ag Field Day on July 27 this year. The program will run from 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Presenters for the field day are Nick Seiter, Emerson Nafziger, Trent Ford, Phillip Alberti, and...
To many, science can seem like magic. Abracadabra and *whoosh* something appears seemingly out of thin air. However mystical and misunderstood science can be, it is not magic. It is science. As such, things cannot be manifested out of nothing.
“But Chelsea, why on earth are you talking about...
Did you know that more than one-third of the food humans consume depend on pollinators for reproduction, i.e., fruit set? And when talking about flowering plants, three-quarters require pollinator intervention for reproduction.
Granted, I know my audience here is primarily corn and soybean...
It’s never too early to think about plant diseases!
There are few sure things in this great wide world of ours. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, gravity holds us down to the earth, and living things are susceptible to pests and pathogens.
When you put your beans out...
Much of the 2020 crop has just been harvested, but it's never too early to discuss crop diseases in the forecast for 2021.
Did you come here thinking you might actually get some idea of what diseases will prove problematic next year? Good. Am I going to give you specific diseases for which...
This article was also submitted to AgriNews.
Cornfields across the state are at or nearing tassel, which means it is time to begin planning those fungicide applications to help manage fungal diseases. Before you spray, have you stopped to check what's in your cornfields?
Before a fungicide...
The year 2020 has been out-of-the-ordinary, to say the least. Illinois Extension is utilizing web-based program delivery methods on a larger scale than ever, which leads us to one of the very few silver linings of our current circumstances: increased access to programs across the state.
One...
