Boots In The Field Report

In this week's Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie reports on harvest progress and recounts yields getting called in throughout IL and IA. Wide swings in yield not only throughout the state be in single fields. He also updates on lime shortages and replant bean plot results. 

Join us for this week’s episode of Boots in The Field Report with Ken Ferrie, where he provides a plot and harvest update that's both informative and timely. Ken dives into the ongoing issue of lime shortages that some growers are grappling with. Furthermore, Ken underscores the importance of keeping a close eye on harvest loss and the correct calibration of your yield monitors. He walks us throug...

In this week’s Boots In The Field report Ken covers why it is more important than usual this year to calibrate the yield monitor to make sure growers are capturing spatially accurate yield maps. These dry years can give clues to where perched water tables and sand lenses are located out in the field. Ken also advises harvest scouting teams to stay on top of the push test, as some hybrids are flat...

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie covers the range of yields being called in as harvest kicks off and reminds growers to stay on top of the push test when letting corn dry down in the field. Due to the variability in fields, combine operators will have to continuously check for harvest loss as they change fields and change hybrids. Ken also warns, with the dry June, growers will...

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie covers reasons for seeing so much top die back in the corn.  1. Disease issues like anthracnose top kill will be on sporadic plants in the field, show black spores on outside of stalk on full dead plants, and behind the leaf sheaths on top killed plants. Can be hybrid and stress related. 2. Insect issues like corn borer. Will have dead tops, mayb...

Ken covers what he saw in his travels through IN, OH, NY, and IA in this week’s Boots In The Field Report. The Eastern region, traveled on way to New York, showed plenty of rain but being further behind in maturity than GDUs and planting date would normally be. Have had several cases of tar spot and SDS and he suspects that number to increase with this week’s heat. Ken mentions that the early plan...

Ken uses this #BIFR to catch up on pest reports, update tar spot locations, cyst pressure coming around traits, how last week’s heat affected this crop and why you don’t want to group up your pollination window. He reminds growers to check planting dates when reviewing yield plots this year to create fair comparisons.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie touches base with Matt Duesterhaus to get more insight in how fields are looking in the areas hit by the derecho that went through and how crops and growers are fairing in the week since. Ken also covers what the short corn means for yield potential and why the rule of thumb about plants being more than a collar behind is different this year than...

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken talks about how the wildfire haze might be helping us out in this drought, why corn on corn or corn with a rye cover are getting hit harder in dry areas, and why it is especially important to keep an eye out for silk clippers this year. He continues to reminder growers to never walk away from a growing crop and encourages growers to work to help the cro...

Grab a cup of coffee or a cold bottle of water, Ken has two weeks to cover in this week’s Boot’s In The Field Report. He walks through frost reports in NE Iowa, drought map getting bigger and uglier, and corn hitting the rapid growth stage amid water concerns. In these challenging conditions the sins of spring are coming to light, and while many may have gotten away with the same practices in othe...

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken covers some of the issues he is seeing in this dry weather including drought stress on crops, herbicide carryover from last June being dry, and lack of mass flow for potassium uptake. He continues to get reports of leaning corn issues due to lack of crown root development and warns that dicamba type product applications will probably make this problem w...

This week’s Boots In The Field Report covers issues popping up in fields as this crop starts to take off. Ken Ferrie reports on heavy cutworm pressure causing growers to spray, dry conditions causing herbicide carryover and a number of conditions causing good but not great ratings for corn stands. Ken also reminds growers of the difference between the ugly corn phase and the carbon penalty. He rec...

High Ear Counts = High Yields In this week's #BIFR, Ken reminds growers that high ear counts are the key to high yields. He also covers planting updates, replant decisions, the ugly corn phase, and insect activity. Cutworm feeding has started, so pest teams be on the lookout! 

Ken Ferrie covers planting progress and emergence in this week’s Boots In The Field Report. Much-needed rain came for most of the Midwest and will help reduce a lot of service calls on all the seed that was sitting in dry soil. Bean stands are looking good and indicating a lot will make early flowering.  While corn stands look good from the road, Ken advises stretching a tape to see what your stan...

It is finally here! In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie gives the green light locally for planting corn and encourages growers to get this planting season in the books. But he does caution growers to make sure they are planting into moisture. He gives the following advice if still needing to do tillage before plating: Horizontal tillage: make sure the planter is on the tail of the...

In this Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie covers the calls coming in on the crops planted April 3-10th that took the hardest hit from the freeze. The first step to evaluating replant decisions is to have accurate counts for what plants survived. For beans checking that the stem below the cotyledon is firm. If soft, it gets counted in the dead column. If firm, it gets counted in the maybe column...

In this week’s Boots in The Field Report Ken covers planting progress of last week and concerns as we look at the weather ahead. Beans that were planned to be planted early and have been treated for SGS, can be planted understanding that they will be in the ground for awhile before they come up and require growers to keep an eye on soil crusting to make sure it doesn’t become an issue. He also exp...

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken gives the green light locally to plant fully treated beans for early planting with the understanding that there is always a risk that you may have to replant if we get a heavy frost. If forecast locally is correct then also giving a yellow light to plant corn Wednesday through noon Saturday to get the first day willies out. Understanding that the corn w...

This week on the Boots In The Field Report podcast Ken Ferrie advises that now is the time for the pest boss to lay down the first line of defense. He recommends cutworm and armyworm traps going out wherever you have green cover, setting up wireworm and grub bait stations, and putting out gopher and vole bait traps. Most problems are very manageable if caught early enough. When the population grow...

The question to ask: “Is the soil dry enough?” In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie covers why this questions is so important, with 80% of the service calls for compaction that he goes on can all be traced back to this first pass in the spring. If growers are doing vertical tillage, asking is the soil dry enough to handle the weight of the equipment without creating compaction? If d...

In this Boots in The Field Report, Ken Ferrie stresses that harvest starts now. A little planning now can alleviate a lot of pressure and stress come harvest. He suggests picking for yield first and then narrowing that down based on ear flex and leaf structure to help manage known conditions in the field. Ken advises breaking down maturity groups into: early, mid and full season varieties, to stag...

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie walks through why 2022 was such a nitrogen friendly year for central IL. While reminding growers it didn’t take less N to grow a bushel last year, it did take less applied N for most due to the decrease in losses and the increase in mineralization. He also encourages growers to not only make their spring plan, but to make sure it is written down...

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie tackles the question: “If I have organic matters of 3.5% or higher do I need to apply sulfur?” Despite higher organic matter soils having the ability to provide sulfur later in the season, due to a reduction of sulfur naturally occurring in most environments, they often struggle in having enough available for early season. Ken covers the basis on...

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie covers some of the questions that came in during the Virtual College. In particular the topic of Tar Spot and what the difference is in pressure and management of “home grown” Tar Spot and “blown in.” The conditions must be right for Tar Spot but when it is, it can cause a huge yield hit. Ken talks through what we have learned so far and how we w...

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie covers several questions about what kind of efficiencies are gained with banding fertilizer and what he has been seeing as they kick off the yield map review season.