This week is bringing us plenty of heat, bringing in questions about POST herbicide applications. Check out these tips for an impactful herbicide application in soybeans with elevated temperatures. 

The introduction of resistant crop traits helped revolutionize modern agriculture but has caused a large reliance on a single, or relatively few modes of actions. This has developed selection pressure on weed populations, leading to an increase in herbicide resistant-weeds. In New York State, we have 7 weed species confirmed to have developed resistance to at least one mode of action. 

Dust is starting to fly which is bringing in some pre-emergent herbicide questions: What is happening to my PRE herbicides? Are they still there? And do I need to adjust my weed management plans? 

This winter was a "classic NY winter", but was it cold enough to actually impact insect populations? While we can't predict pest pressure with any greater accuracy than long-term weather forecasts, we can evaluate historic insect populations, weather and biology to give us a better idea of what we could see this growing season. 

In speaking with many of you across our region lately—whether you're in the dairy, livestock, or field crops sectors—I've heard a theme: everything costs more, and margins feel tighter than ever.

Following the challenging weather of the 2025 growing season, many dairy farms are facing tight forage inventories and looking to 2026 to rebuild forage supplies. The current economic conditions of escalating input costs and tight milk prices increase the difficulty of accomplishing this goal. Despite all of this, farms can still look for the best practices to achieve their forage inventory goals.

It's no secret that last year's spring was a particularly cold and wet one. While it seems like this spring should be warming up and drying out sooner than last year, it's still important that we know how to stay flexible in chaotic conditions and make the right management decisions for our short and long-term goals.

Knowing that we will likely continue to experience volatile N pricing, coupled with less than stellar commodity prices, it's a critical time to evaluate your nutrient management strategy. So,what can you do to maintain your crop yields while also protecting your bottom line?

March 2026 has been wet, hovering around 150 percent of normal precipitation for much of New York. While this has some manure storages approaching or exceeding their operational capacity, it is critical to follow the prohibited spreading conditions within the CAFO permit and spreading plans in your CNMP. 

Check out this spring forage checklist from Joe Lawrence as we fly into spring and the upcoming growing season. 

As last year has certainly shown most of us, water is one of the biggest drivers of success or stress in a cropping system. Not only is it difficult to manage something so unpredictable, but sometimes the things you do to keep water in your fields during a drought are the same things that can turn the field into a muddy mess for weeks.