Farmers will walk through fields to learn how to scout soybeans for disease, weeds and injury.

University of Missouri Extension will host free Strip Trial Scouting Schools throughout the state from late July through mid-August.

Mandy Bish, MU Extension integrated pest management coordinator, will lead the four schools. Content will vary slightly depending on region. Overall topics include:

Sessions will run from 1½ to 2 hours. All schools will be held in local fields except for the session in Portageville, which will be at the MU Fisher Delta Center. The scouting schools are free. More information is available from the MU Extension specialist listed for each event. Advance registration is not required.

Here is the information for the four Missouri locations:

Northwest. 9 a.m. July 28, intersection of Atchison Holt and Juniper roads, Mound City. Contact Wayne Flanary, [email protected].

Northeast. 10 a.m. Aug. 4, County Road 318, Palmyra. Contact Nick Wesslak, [email protected].

Southwest. 8:30 a.m. Aug. 12, County Road 72, Lockwood. Contact Jill Scheidt, [email protected].

Southeast. 8:30 a.m. Aug. 18, MU Fisher Delta Research, Extension and Education Center, 147 State Highway T, Portageville. Contact Ivan Cuvaca, [email protected].

The foliar fungicide trials within the Missouri Strip Trial Program are supported by the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council.

Learn more about the Missouri Strip Trial Program at striptrial.missouri.edu.

Listen-and-learn crops podcast

University of Missouri Extension field specialists will explore all things row crops on their new MO Crops podcast.

The podcast launched this spring has more than 600 downloads. New episodes are released every other Thursday of the month on Amazon, Spotify, Apple, Libsyn and Audible. Episodes of “MO Crops” run 35-50 minutes.

Justin Calhoun, Justin Chlapecka and Bradley Wilson at MU Fisher Delta Research, Extension and Education Center created the MO Crops podcast. Calhoun says the trio has had “an absolute blast putting this podcast together.”

“I think my favorite part about it has been the fact that I have learned something on every episode,” he adds.

LISTEN UP: Farmers can sit back in their tractor cab and listen to discussion about issues surrounding Missouri crops. It can be a university researcher or a fellow farmer offering up advice.

Since its launch, the podcast has covered topics such as the Delta Center’s soybean breeding program, discussions with a Missouri row rice producer, crop weather with an MU Extension state climatologist and an in-season row rice update for Missouri and Arkansas.

“The knowledge in the agriculture community is immense,” Calhoun says. “With this podcast, we are hoping to connect the dots to allow those with that knowledge to share with us and with our audience.”

Future episodes will include commodity board members and crop experts from throughout the state.

University of Missouri Extension contributed to this article.