This NH3 calculator that will help you determine if fall application is right for you.

Today the Arkansas State Plant Board voted 10-3 to pass an April 16 to Oct. 31 in-season dicamba ban for soybeans and cotton. The decision came after five hours of hearing public comments and deliberation by the board. The ban, and fine increase to $25,000, comes after nearly 1,000 official complaints regarding alleged dicamba damage in the state. Monsanto representatives urged members of the board to consider information from BASF that stated on 52% of the soybean acres in the state with Xtend technology purchased the Engenia product. The company questioned whether or not that meant generic products were used. University representatives, scientists, farmers and others all spoke—both in favor of and opposed to the ban. Those in favor of the ban discussed effects on not only row crops, but gardens, trees and bee keeping as well. The approved rules will now move to the Arkansas Executive Subcommittee and later be signed by the governor to officially put it into law. Watch for more updates as the story unfolds.

Commodity prices have been challenging, but according to recent projections they likely won’t get any worse.

“You invest a lot of time studying inputs like seed and chemicals, but sometimes not in drying and storage,” says Kenneth Hellevang, North Dakota State Extension agricultural engineer and professor. “It makes sense to invest as much or more time in storage to make sure you can maintain the grain we worked hard to produce.”

Researchers have discovered that waterhemp, and possibly other weeds don’t respond to rotating herbicides each year as they originally thought.

Some problem pests just keep raising their ugly heads each season, and that’s certainly true for Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN). Despite a lot of work and effort on the part of university Extension and company researchers, this endemic pest continues to take a big bite out of soybean yields across the Midwest—to the tune of over $1 billion annually, according to the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers know the typical signs that SCN is present in a field--plants are stunted, yellow and scraggly. In severe cases, SCN can destroy 80% of a field’s yield potential. University of Illinois research shows that when SCN goes undetected in fields--where symptoms aren’t present--it can still sap yields.

John Phipps offers commentary on how to fix the dicamba drift problem for 2018.

Is it dicamba, another herbicide or disease?

Insects and diseases likely to vary this season—here’s what should be top of mind

Farmers test out-of-the-box techniques to add soybean bushels and profits