Weekly Ag Update
Weekly Field Crop IPM Report; By Ned Birkey, MSU Extension Educator Emeritus/ Spartan Agricultural Consulting; [email protected]; March 19, 2025
?The agricultural weather from the National Weather Service Climate Predication Center 8-to-14-day outlook for March 26 to April 1, 2025, updated March 18 is predicting “likely below” outlook for temperatures and “leaning above” normal chances for precipitation.? Spring is finally here and we can enjoy more than 12 hours of daylight for the next six months!!? Purdue’s meteorologist Beth Hall says the recent warm spell is merely a false sense of Spring.? Longer term weather suggests more precipitation and a high risk of frost.? For the Great Lakes, the Poe Lock of the Soo Locks, the Welland Canal and the rest of the Ste. Lawrence Seaway opens early for the 2025 shipping season.? They all open early at the request of the shipping companies and since all the winter maintenance had been completed ahead of schedule.? The traditional “Top Hat” ceremony by the presentation of the beaver felt fur hat to the captain of the first downbound vessel (freighter) going through the Welland Canal occurred at 8am on March 22, 2025.?
?Wheat greenup has occurred which means one-half of the spring nitrogen recommendation can be made now.? Apply some nitrogen, and any herbicide needed, before it reaches the critical Feekes’ growth stage 6.?? The recommended nitrogen rate for winter wheat based upon the formula; nitrogen rate = (1.33 x yield potential) – 13.? 100-bushel wheat yield goal would need a total of 120 pounds of N for the entire year (fall + spring).???
?Early Season Weed Control will be the first topic of the year for the 2025 MSU Extension Field Crops virtual breakfast series of seminars starting on March 27 with Dr. Christy Sprague.? The 2025 series is a weekly seminar for farmers, agribusiness professionals and anyone interested in agriculture.? The weekly series begins on March 27 and runs through September 18, which ends with Late Season Weed Control with Dr. Sprague finishing up.? Sign up is free of charge by calling the Montcalm County Extension office at 989-831-7500.? Sessions will be recorded and can be viewed anytime later.? A call-in-by-phone option is also available for those wanting to listen.? Topics vary each week, but always will include a detailed weather analysis by the MSU agricultural meteorologist Dr. Jeff Andresen.? Each session will also include a question and answer portion so participants can interact with the speaker and get answers to their questions.
?“Top 12” Pests for the lawn and garden includes some familiar weeds, such as dandelion, g round ivy, large crabgrass, quackgrass and tall fescue.? All are cool season weeds except for crabgrass.? All are perennial weeds except for crabgrass.? Dandelions have a growing point in the taproot, whereas ground ivy has creeping stems, quackgrass spreads by seeds and rhizomes and tall fescue spreads by seeds and tillering.? Common insects include; bagworms, Japanese beetles, Emerald Ash borer and several species of annual white grubs.? Anthracnose, verticillium wilt and root rots are common to many plant species.? Symptoms vary depending upon the host and pathogen. Trees, many fruits, vegetables, herbaceous plants and turf are susceptible.
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