Delayed planting and a cool, wet growing season have many farmers and consultants concerned about poor corn yields and wet grain at harvest.

Jeff Coulter, University of Minnesota Extension agronomist, will discuss potential corn yields, based on his research, at the U-M Southern Research and Outreach Center's Agronomy Field Tour Tuesday, June 21. Coulter will also discuss interactions among planting date, relative maturity, growing degree days and grain moisture at harvest.

Is price volatility in fertilizer markets the new normal? Kevin Doyle, account manager with CHS, will focus on this question and also look at fertilizer supply, demand and prices for the 2012 growing season. Jeff Vetsch, assistant soil scientist at the SROC, will present University research results on the performance of split and sidedress applications of nitrogen. Split application timing, risks associated with mid-season N applications using remote sensing tools and conditions warranting supplemental N applications will also be reviewed.

Several University researchers will address specific issues in weed, disease and insect management. Will the cold, wet start to the growing season lead to greater disease pressure in soybeans? Dean Malvick, UM plant pathologist, will discuss diseases that could be "on the radar" this season and will also present an update on sudden death syndrome research in Minnesota. Extension entomologist, Ken Ostlie, will discuss BMPs for the control of soybean aphid and corn rootworms. He'll also look at other insect pests making an appearance in the 2011 growing season. U of M research evaluates products available for weed control in corn and soybeans at a number of locations across the state. Tom Hoverstad, scientist at the UM SROC, will discuss how some of the new products are performing in these trials.

Registration for the agronomy field tour opens at 8 a.m., and a shotgun start sends the tours to the field promptly at 8:30. A picnic lunch (with time for Q&A) brings the event to a close shortly after 12 p.m.

A $30 registration fee includes handout materials, morning refreshments and lunch. CEUs for certified crop advisers have been applied for. The field tour will be held rain or shine, and, in the event of inclement weather, will be held in the administration building at the Southern Research and Outreach Center. The Center is located at the west edge of Waseca on Highway 14, across from Loon Lake. For more information, visit the SROC Web site at http://sroc.cfans.umn.edu or call 507-835-3620.

Source: U-M