This is Nathan Mueller, UNL Extension Educator for Cropping Systems, in Fremont, NE. Crop condition ratings and yield predictions have been high for the U.S. Cornbelt. Recently, UNL Faculty and Staff released the 2014 forecasted corn yields based on the Hybrid Maize Model simulations at cropwatch.unl.edu. The Hybrid-Maize model simulates daily growth and development and […] Continue reading → 
Highlighted items you may want to read more about in this week’s report: Soybean aphids reported, where at? Corn rootworm damage… have you checked your roots? What is a Grape Colaspis beetle? Corn and soybean weekly water use. Platte River Valley (Fremont, Ames, North Bend) Overall, corn is in poor to good condition and soybeans […] Continue reading → 
Most growers and agronomists are familiar with gray leaf spot, but another less known leaf fungal pathogen that I am starting to see in Dodge County is called Northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) caused by Exserohilum turcicum. Right now, the the incidence of NCLB is low and the severity is low to moderate, suggesting previous […] Continue reading → This is Nathan Mueller, UNL Extension Educator for Cropping Systems, in Fremont, NE. Each Monday, I conduct a Dodge County Crop Condition Tour that I write up on my blog at croptechcafe.com posted with plenty of pictures. Agronomic issues growers may be seeing this week include potato leaf hopper in alfalfa and corn leaf diseases. […] Continue reading → 
USDA-NASS general crop conditions categories are defined as followed: Very Poor – Extreme loss of yield potential; complete or near complete crop failure. Poor – Heavy loss of yield potential due to excessive soil moisture, drought, disease, etc. Fair – Less than normal crop conditions. Yield loss is a possibility, but is not severe. […] Continue reading → 
2014 EQIP Storm Damage Cover Crop Initiative Action Required by: August 15, 2014 Purpose. To announce a targeted initiative to address the loss of residue cover on cropland fields caused by storm damage during the 2014 cropping season Expiration Date. September 30, 2014 Producers that have experienced crop and residue loss in the 2014 growing […] Continue reading → 
In this report, I will use the definitions used by USDA-NASS for crop conditions: General crop conditions. The county’s entire crop should be assigned a percentage by category, with the total of the categories equal to 100 percent. Categories are defined as follows: Very Poor – Extreme loss of yield potential; complete or near complete […] Continue reading →