Early planting is a must to increase soybean yields. However, it is important to manage early-season weeds, insects, and diseases if producers want to see the advantages of early planting.

The Agribusiness Education Program is offering an Early-Season Soybean Management Clinic on June 29, 2006, at the Field Extension Education Laboratory (FEEL). During the clinic, attendees will attend workshops on soybean physiology and talk about the reasons to plant early but also the importance of early-season management of weeds, insects, and diseases. This workshop features hands-on interaction and extensive field demonstrations showing date of planting and depth of planting effects, tillage systems, weed control, seed treatments, inoculants, and soybean cyst nematode management strategies.

Program topics

• Aboveground growth--growth and development, biomass accumulation, measurements
• Belowground growth--roots, nodules, mycorrhizae
• Seedling diseases
• Weed management--PRE and POST emergence strategies
• Insect management--bean leaf beetles, seed treatments
• Soybean cyst nematode--extraction, management, sources of resistance

Instructors for this clinic

• Palle Pedersen, extension soybean specialist
• Bob Hartzler, extension weed specialist
• Alison Robertson, extension plant pathologist
• Matt O'Neal, assistant professor, entomology
• Greg Tylka, extension nematologist

The clinic will be held June 29 with registration at 8:30 a.m. Workshops run from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The clinic will be conducted at the Field Extension Education Laboratory, approximately 5 miles west of Ames. 3.0 crop management and 3.5 pest management Certified Crop Adviser credits have been approved. The registration fee is $145 and includes lunch, breaks, and class materials. Registration can be completed online at www.aep.iastate.edu. Print registration forms and additional class information also are available at that site. Preregistration is required and registrations will not be accepted the day of the clinic. This class is limited to the first 50 paid registrations.

For questions or additional information, please contact the Agribusiness Education Program at 515-432-9548 or by e-mail at aep@iastate.edu.

The Early-Season Soybean Management Clinic features hands-on interaction and extensive field demonstrations.