2023 No-Till and Cover Crop Conference

UVM Extension invites farmers, technical advisers, agricultural providers, consultants, and others to attend the 2023 No-Till and Cover Crop (NTCC) Conference on Thursday, March 2, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Burlington, VT! This event is dedicated to no-till and cover crop systems for field crop growers. Visit …

Impact of Cover Crop Termination Date on Weed Suppression and Corn Yield

Cover crops can retain nutrients, increase organic matter, and reduce erosion. In addition, cover crops may help to increase cash crop yields. Zeroing in on cover crop benefits, what happens to weed suppression and corn yield the longer the cover crop grows? Would more cover crop biomass suppress weeds better? Would that suppression of weeds …

Winter Rye Cover Crop: When to terminate?

Winter rye is a hearty cereal grain that is considered a “workhorse” and, although it is not the highest quality forage crop, it is often chosen for its reliability and versatility. It thrives on well-drained, loamy soil but it also performs adequately in heavy clay as well as droughty, sandy soils. It can grow in low-fertility soils; it prefers a soil pH of 5.0 to …

Rain Putting a Damper on Your Forages? Options Available

Rain, rain, go away, we haven’t been able to harvest our hay…or plant our forages! If you’ve been singing this song, you are not alone. With this wet weather, farmers across the region have seen poor corn germination, challenging hay harvest windows, and field conditions making planting difficult. While it has been tough going so …

Armyworm Alert

Armyworms were spotted in Addison County Vermont on June 12, 2017. Please don’t panic but do scout your corn and grass fields for armyworm caterpillars. True Armyworm, Pseudaletia unipuncta, are typically spotted each year on some acreage in Vermont — crops most affected are grasses including field corn, grass hay and pasture crops. It is …

Dry Weather Impacts Corn Harvest

While the past weeks have brought some much needed rain to Vermont, above average accumulation of growing degree-days (GDDs) and droughty conditions for much of the growing season has impacted corn growth and development. We expect that we will start our silage corn harvest sometime this week. For more information, please refer to our 2012 …

Planning Your Mid-Season Corn Fertility Boost

The corn has been growing and, in spite of a brief cold spell, is about to begin its rapid growth phase and peak in its demand for nitrogen! A  high yielding corn silage crop can easily require 150 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Much of the required nitrogen will come from manure applications, crop residues, …

Updated Nitrogen Recommendations for Corn Now Available

Nutrient recommendations based on soil testing and other soil and crop information are the basis for manure and fertilizer management for your field crops that optimizes economic returns while protecting water quality and the environment. The recommended nutrient rates reported on the UVM Soil Test Report and found in the Nutrient Recommendations for Field Crops …

2015 Corn Research Reports Ready

Our Northwest Crops & Soils Team has been busy this fall harvesting research trials, collecting samples, and crunching stats on all the data we’ve collected. Now that it is officially winter, we are busy writing reports for all of the trials conducted during the 2015 research season. The first of our reports are ready — …

Annual Field Day This Week! 7/23

Join us this Thursday, July 23, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for our annual Crops and Soils Field Day at the Borderview Research Farm in Alburgh. The day will include our infamous tour where you will see many of the research trials we are conducting, including those on heirloom beans, silage corn, flax, …

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