Spring weather was mild and moist, but not excessively wet. This was followed by severe drought lasting from July until Labor Day.

The mild spring weather stimulated very good cool-season grass and winter wheat production. Many wheat yields exceeded 75 bushels per acre, with a few topping 100. Higher yields generally require more nutrients, and producers who responded to high yield potential by applying 20 to 40 additional pounds of nitrogen per acre benefited greatly.

Most cool-season grass fields produced high amounts of forage in the spring, virtually no forage during the summer and good to excellent fall growth. Similar to spring nitrogen on wheat, producers who applied nitrogen to cool-season grass pastures in August/September benefited with increased forage production.

Summer alfalfa, clover and grass production was severely limited by the drought. Recent research from Purdue University has shown that alfalfa stand loss is more severe in the summer than in the winter. Evaluate alfalfa fields to determine if 2003 drought conditions caused enough stand reduction to consider rotating to another crop before reestablishing alfalfa.

In 2003, early planted corn reached pollination before devastating drought conditions occurred. Early planted soybeans experienced drought conditions at flowering through pod fill, which resulted in severe yield reductions.

As an agronomist, it makes me uneasy to promote early corn planting (late March to early April north of I-70 and late February to mid-March south of I-70). However, with possible drought avoidance and continued grower acceptance, we need to develop and promote the best agronomics for early planting systems.

Last spring, I walked many early planted cornfields that experienced extreme wireworm, white grub and grape colaspis injury. These insects feed on the below-ground portions of corn seedlings. Wireworms prefer cool weather and are more active in early planted, no-till fields. We also had high flea beetle and southern corn leaf beetle, but fortunately only limited cutworm activity in 2003.

The insect pressure discussed above has generated considerable interest in corn insecticides, either as preventative seed treatments, in-furrow treatments or as needed based upon observed in-season insect pressure. We believe that early season insects are becoming a major problem. Therefore, 100 percent of our new MorCorn branded hybrids will be pretreated with Poncho insecticide.

Producers who plant corn early should consider two-pass herbicide and crop-nutrition programs. In one-pass programs, preplant and/or preemergent herbicides need to “hold” until canopy closure. In 2003, for early planted corn, that period lasted from late March through early June. This stretched the limits of many residual crop protection products.

Expecting a mobile nutrient like nitrogen to remain available for several months is often unrealistic. In most cases, early planted corn should receive approximately one-third of its nitrogen at planting and the remainder at the 5- to 7-leaf growth stage. By doing so, you can adjust your second nitrogen application rate depending upon in-season crop status.

Although glyphosate-tolerant systems may not be the weed control “silver bullet,” they have held up remarkably well considering the number of acres that were planted in 2003 (an estimated 86 percent of the soybean acreage and 14 percent of the corn acreage). However, 2003 produced more glyphosate weed control problems compared to past seasons. Most of the weaknesses were related to herbicide application timing, coverage and rate. Resistance issues and weed species shifts also need to be carefully evaluated. Volunteer glyphosate-tolerant corn is starting to become a weed problem in glyphosate-tolerant soybeans.

The waterhemp/pigweed complex continues to be a major problem for most soybean fields. Lambsquarter pressure increased in 2003.

Prickly sida (teaweed) has become an important weed species and appears to be moving north and west. Annual bluegrass, downy brome and cheatgrass are becoming problem weeds in cool-season grass and winter wheat production areas.

Once again, fall herbicide programs have received a lot of attention. I last counted 13 manufacturer-suggested fall herbicide application programs. We will continue to evaluate the agronomics, economics and environmental components of fall-applied herbicide programs.

From a cultural crop advising perspective, 2003 was a season in limbo. Farm Bill and other incentive programs continue to provide opportunities for landowners, but technical service provider programs remain unclear. Organizations like MFA are poised to aid in delivering technical conservation services to landowners once programs are set.