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Northeast Kansas Soybean Crop Outstanding Going Into August
by Scott Beguelin
Soybean growers in northeast Kansas and southern Nebraska head into August with high hopes for a bumper crop.
Weather conditions have been near perfect for both dry land and irrigated beans, with enough hot weather to keep soybean aphids and other insects below treatment levels. However, an extended period of cool, damp weather is predicted for August, and if we get those conditions, growers need to be particularly aware of soybean aphid buildups.
If temperatures remain low in August, growers should intensify efforts to scout beans. August is a critical time for soybeans, when the plant is expending most of its energy setting and maturing pods, which makes it more vulnerable to insect and disease problems.
Colonies of soybean aphids are most likely to form on new foliage and more toward the top of the plant. Soybean aphids are small, greenish-yellow and have cornicles, which look like tiny tailpipes, near the tip of the abdomen. If more than 200 to 250 per plant occurs, growers should consider control options.
Green bean leaf beetle damage has been low to moderate, but continued cool weather also could trigger outbreaks of this insect pest. It has been a bigger problem in central and southern Kansas, but is a potential threat to the big soybean crop in northeast Kansas and southern Nebraska.
The biggest insect problem in our region has been grasshoppers, though mostly in border rows. Growers need to stay on top of this pest, because once grasshoppers mature, they can spread quickly and cause widespread damage to soybeans.
Changes in the weather pattern can also trigger disease problems. Though disease damage in our region has been light, we have seen some isolated cases of Sudden Death Syndrome and growers need to be particularly aware of this plant disease.
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