Crop Talk by IAS – 06/03/26

Crop Talk by IAS – Field Scouting Update | June 6 

As post-emerge season gets underway across Iowa and southwest Wisconsin, the focus is shifting from what was applied earlier to what’s coming next. With warm, dry conditions and scattered rain chances, weed pressure is starting to creep in and timely applications are becoming critical. At the same time, agronomists are keeping a close eye on alfalfa pests, crop recovery, and overall field progress. 

In this episode, the team discusses: 

• Post herbicide timing and why earlier is often better for weed control 
• Pre-emerge products starting to wear off and what that means for scouting 
• Environmental conditions to watch before making spray decisions 
• Weed size considerations and avoiding late control challenges 
• Insect pressure building in alfalfa, including grasshoppers and armyworms 
• How dry conditions are influencing pest activity 
• Wheat fungicide applications and seasonal timing 
• Early-season crop variability and how stands are evening out 
• Using foliar nutrition to help support crop recovery and growth 
• Reflecting on early-season challenges and what’s improved over the last few weeks 

As always, these are real-time, boots-on-the-ground insights from IAS agronomists working directly in the field. 

Featured this week: 
Nicholas Giesseman, Host and Eastern Region Agronomist 
Nick Thompson, Southwest Region Agronomist (Ellsworth) 
Melissa Schuman, Northeast Region Agronomist 

🎧 Listen now
Have a question for the team? Send it to CropTalk@InnovativeAg.com

To learn more about Innovative Ag Services and our agronomy services, visit InnovativeAg.com/Agronomy.

Produced by IAS Communications in partnership with My Four Creative.

Transcript

00;00;00;27 - 00;00;08;28
Nicholas
Welcome to Crop Talk, brought to you by Innovative AG Services. And this is our field Scouting special.

00;00;09;00 - 00;00;33;28
Nicholas
Each week from March through October, our agronomy team shares timely boots on the ground updates from across the eyes geography so you can make confident decisions as the seasons change. Today you'll hear a quick regional update from our ears agronomists, including what we're seeing in the fields right now. What to keep an eye on next, and a few practical scouting reminders you can put to work this week.

00;00;34;01 - 00;00;52;14
Nicholas
I am your host, Nicholas, and this week on Crop Talk we're going to, you know, really hit on wrapping up Prix's and what we're seeing going into the post pass. A few of us out there are dealing with some pests and some alfalfa fields. So we'll also hit on that. I'm going to get a kicked off by setting over to Nick Thompson on the Southwest Region and see what he's got going on.

00;00;52;20 - 00;01;14;17
Nick
Thanks, Nicholas. This is Nick Thompson from the southwest region covering Story County, Hamilton County and Hardin County. Right now, what I'm seeing out in the fields is that the priests have, for the most part, done their job, and now they're kind of moving out of the soil. So we're starting to see the weed pressure creep back in. And it's important to remember just to get out there.

00;01;14;18 - 00;01;36;15
Nick
Early and hit those weeds while they're still pretty small. I know it's nice to see a big dead weed, but it's a lot easier to kill a smaller weed than it is to go at a foot tall water hemp. So as we're getting into the post passes here, it's just important to keep in mind that you. Honestly, I'd rather be out there a little earlier than later and getting good control.

00;01;36;15 - 00;01;56;06
Nick
It's all about the timing and about the weather conditions out there. Know the chemicals that you're spraying, know the environment and just make sure that you're getting out there and timing it right. Listen to your agronomist when they should be out checking your fields, what they're seeing out there. From there on out, we're kind of moving towards post.

00;01;56;06 - 00;02;17;08
Nick
I know our sprayers running hot and heavy right now, and our post passes for corn. I've done a few passes for beans. Those were in some of the harrier fields where the priest may have slipped a little early on us, but for the most part, I'd say the beans are still a little young. For me to want to go out there and start spraying post on the corn side of things.

00;02;17;10 - 00;02;38;29
Nick
Like I said, we're out there running corn right now, keeping an eye on the wind, making sure that we're not going to be out there when it gets too windy later on today. And I know we have storms coming later this week, so just make sure the field conditions are correct. The environmental conditions are correct. Make sure you're getting out there plenty early and not trying to kill something that won't be killed.

00;02;39;00 - 00;02;47;17
Nick
And that's all we have down here and Ellsworth for the southwest region. I'll send it up to Melissa for the northeast region.

00;02;47;18 - 00;03;11;29
Melissa
Thank you. Nick, this is Melissa Schuman in our northeast region, specifically Clayton County. And we had a little bit of a surprise rainfall this last Sunday, ranging from about a 10th of an inch to 7/10. So that really kind of changed our plans for Monday. And we've got rain coming in this weekend. So just trying to get a good slew of those post herbicide applications on corn.

00;03;11;29 - 00;03;44;24
Melissa
We are in that 28 to 30 days past the first past the pre-application. So it is time to get out there. And with the dry weather and the heat, those Prix's are starting to slip. We're starting to see a few of the broad leaves emerging, so it's time to get out there before they are any larger. We are also seeing a lot of bugs coming in our alfalfa fields, so time to actively scout to determine if insecticide is necessary, or if the hay is large enough to make that determination.

00;03;44;24 - 00;04;06;17
Melissa
If it is not quite there, then going out and check in in a few more days. The dry weather does tend to increase that pest pressure in the alfalfa field, so keep that on the lookout. We've got some wheat fungicide applications happening up here. That second application. And then another big watch out that up here we're trying to make sure is everyone has their seed returns.

00;04;06;17 - 00;04;24;16
Melissa
We've all been pretty busy out in the fields. And so making sure we get back in the machine shed and any extra seed that we have laying around, get it back where it needs to go so you can get that credit on a return basis. So that is what I've got here in the northeast region. I'm going to kick it down to Nicholas in our eastern region.

00;04;24;22 - 00;04;45;22
Nicholas
Thank you very much. Melissa, this is Nicholas. Guys been covering Dubuque and Jackson County. Reiterate what they're saying. You know we're wrapping up on prize. It's it's been 21 days plus since we've been out there. It's time to get that residual back out and layer that on top of the pre that we had out there to keep the weeds down and also kill the ones that are starting to escape while they're small.

00;04;45;22 - 00;05;09;24
Nicholas
I know both Nick and Melissa all hit on, you know, we'd size and making sure we had the right stuff for the tank going into the post. It's really key to make sure we're getting out there and killing these weeds when they're small. And getting this the second layer of residual, you know, before the rain coming in here this coming week or, you know, there's chances next week to get that activated, to have good control going into, you know, the summer months and through the season here.

00;05;09;25 - 00;05;21;23
Nicholas
Otherwise, you know, down here we're really just start on that. A lot of hay spraying going to be kicking off. Hey fertilizer Melissa mentioned some bugs Melissa what are you seeing up in northeast Iowa for bugs.

00;05;21;23 - 00;05;40;06
Melissa
So far we have just a few miscellaneous worms out there. There's still in the very early nymph stage, but we're seeing lots of hoppers and lots of grasshoppers already. The guys are seeing it covering their mowers, so they are kind of on my agenda to give it a couple of days of regrowth and let's see what else we're seeing.

00;05;40;07 - 00;05;41;18
Melissa
How about yourself, Nicholas?

00;05;41;21 - 00;05;57;25
Nicholas
You have the same the same entourage out there, except we got that lovely army worm kind of showing up. Spotty. They're small. A lot of this stuff is under ten days closer that 7 to 8 days from cutting. So kind of waiting, just like you to see what you know, what comes with the regrowth. Go back out there and keep checking.

00;05;57;25 - 00;06;14;00
Nicholas
But if I'm seeing them now, I feel very confident we're going to have to be out there spraying for them something. Think about it. I don't know how it goes up north, but I know farmers are always about, you know, getting some added product. If it's getting that free pass across the field, I think, you know, on hay ground, there's a couple different options you can push.

00;06;14;01 - 00;06;30;06
Nicholas
A lot of acres are going to get micro boost thrown in, which is a good foliar feed along with that insecticide going across this pass here after we, you know, scout for aphids or bugs and see them out there, you know, kind of get a good bang for your buck. That product can also be thrown on some corn and post being acres.

00;06;30;06 - 00;06;35;04
Nicholas
Anybody already out in some fields. Are they planning to spray this across some acres and get some trials out there?

00;06;35;09 - 00;06;58;03
Melissa
So yeah. Nicholas, I've actually my intern here in El Kader has a trial that we're going to be spraying on Monday or Tuesday, depending on the rain. We're going to go out and alfalfa field we determine does need insecticide. It just needs a little more biomass. We are going to run a trial on microbus and compare it to Kernel Boost, which is designed for more the fungicide timing with corn.

00;06;58;03 - 00;07;07;01
Melissa
But we're going to see the differences in how alfalfa responds to the different products and stuff. So I'm very excited to see what that'll show us out in the field.

00;07;07;01 - 00;07;49;08
Nick
We didn't have any trials going out here on the southwest side, but we did have with the heavy amount of rain that we had this spring and some nitrogen application issues. We had a field of corn here that looked pretty sickly last week, and came across it with some micro boost here, and it's starting to turn around. That's one of the benefits that I think make Micro Boost or these micronutrient fertilizers such a big thing, the ability to go through at the post pass and essentially just clean up any fertilization mistakes or mishaps and just kind of make your stand look a little more even, look a little darker green, and get it back to

00;07;49;09 - 00;08;08;27
Nick
where it needs to be. And that's going to come in crucial here. I feel like in a year like this, where a lot of these fields didn't have the hot start after planting that we wanted to, we saw some uneven emergence. A product like this or or another micronutrient fertilizer would be a good idea to just kind of level things out.

00;08;08;28 - 00;08;23;27
Melissa
And to add to that, Nick, I just wanted to throw out there that micro boost is in fact a full year feed. So we want to make sure we do have tissue that we are spraying it on and we do not want to sprayed on bare ground to get the most benefit out of that product.

00;08;24;00 - 00;08;40;29
Nicholas
Yeah. That's awesome. Exciting stuff to hopefully see with that hey trial up north and I know on some corn acres you know definitely giving it that boost. It's right in the name. It's micro boost. You're giving it that boost to kind of get get to that next stage, put some new leaves out, give it that shot of energy, be a little healthier plant.

00;08;41;00 - 00;08;54;23
Nicholas
Hopefully in the end game you're getting bushels. You're seeing an Roy on this product going across your acres Melissa are they weighing the tons. Are they just going to go off bales? How big of a trial is this. You know something to keep in mind. You know, down the road to make sure we see some data on that.

00;08;54;25 - 00;09;27;17
Melissa
Absolutely. So we're going to do for sure some wet cuttings. So we are going to take our alfalfa circles out there and kind of toss them in our dedicated GPS zones for the different applications and take those cuttings. We will weigh them. And then we'll also sending them in for a nutritional analysis, so we can see the breakdown of the difference based on what the tonnage difference then equates out to, and what the nutritional difference is on the treated versus untreated versus the combination fields.

00;09;27;17 - 00;09;42;22
Melissa
So we'll have lots of data that we will present and kind of excited to see what it brings. On another discussion point, what are you guys thoughts on if we look at a planting early season reflections, what has gone really well.

00;09;42;25 - 00;09;55;27
Nicholas
That is a great you know, it's a it's a good time to kind of reflect on the year so far. I know we're still really early. It's after praise. We're going into post a couple of good things down here. There were some times with, you know, too much rain. And now we're in a time with not enough rain.

00;09;55;27 - 00;10;24;17
Nicholas
And we had a couple cold spells. But I think overall there's really good stand counts. There's really good emergence out of some of these hybrids. We did have a couple days that we had, you know, some replant across the area. But I think for what we've kind of been through so far this year, I don't think anybody can be disappointed in what their crop looks like walking through fields today with the stand they have and the growth that we're seeing, it's a little behind what we have years previous, but I think we're on a on the right note to kind of stay on the same track.

00;10;24;18 - 00;10;26;20
Nicholas
So exciting things there.

00;10;26;28 - 00;10;47;28
Nick
Yeah, I'd agree with that. I think that we had a really rough start to the season and we had a lot of fields, you know, where rotary hose had to come out and emergence probably wasn't coming up the best. But now that we've gotten a few weeks with this crop in the ground and things kind of settled, I've seen a lot more even stands.

00;10;48;00 - 00;11;14;03
Nick
Not a whole lot of differentiating crop stages, which early on I was seeing some corn that'd be at the three, and then some corn that'd be at vegetative emergence. The smaller stuff has definitely caught up a whole lot here in this past two weeks. That just shows the toughness that these plants have, and the ability to adapt to their environment and give them the best chance to survive that they possibly can.

00;11;14;06 - 00;11;21;18
Nick
I've been pretty happy with what I've been seeing, the way things came up, especially with how rough things looked at the beginning of the year.

00;11;21;21 - 00;11;43;18
Melissa
And I will second that. Up here in northeast Iowa, things were they were growing, but they were very slow, and they were just kind of in that sickly looking corn stage. But with a little bit of rain. We got in the heat units. Everything is really taken off and taken a new light. And I think that's really encouraging to see that we're we're in the right direction.

00;11;43;19 - 00;12;07;01
Melissa
I encourage growers listening to also have a reflection on how your spring is went, what things went well for you or what maybe do you want to ask more questions? Whether it's your local agronomist on how you can improve it for next year, as we kind of get ready for a lull in the season as we're watching the crop grow.

00;12;07;03 - 00;12;25;02
Nicholas
That's all for this week's crop Talk bias. Thanks for tuning in. If any of our listeners have questions, feel free to email them to crop Talk and innovative ag com. Be sure to like, follow, and subscribe so you don't miss next week's update. And if you know a fellow grower who'd value a quick field snapshot, share this episode with them.

00;12;25;03 - 00;12;37;25
Nicholas
For more agronomy resources and to connect with your local team, visit innovative and follow Innovative AG Services on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. We'll catch you next week on Crop Talk.