The Missouri Strip Trial Program continues to seek farmers for the upcoming growing season, says University of Missouri Extension nutrient management specialist John Lory.
MU Extension works with farmers to use their equipment to compare treatments on their fields using aerial imagery and GPS-referenced yield monitor data. The MU team works with the farmers so they do not need to change harvest methods. Farmers receive aerial images of their fields and summary reports of test results on their farm and other farms in the same trial, he says.
A new trial this year looks at how soybean seed treatments affect early-season diseases and pests. MU Extension plant pathologist Kaitlyn Bissonnette leads the effort to compare seed treated with fungicide, seed treated with fungicide and insecticide, and seed treated with neither. Participating farmers choose their own fungicide and insecticide. MU Extension provides disease scouting and aerial imagery twice in the first six weeks and weekly insect sweeps for six weeks after soybean emergence. Because of the effort needed to accomplish this, Bissonnette is looking for farms no more than 75-100 miles from Columbia for this trial.
Other trials still available in 2019 include:
• Cover crop termination trial. Can be done on any field in a cover crop or crop mix that does not winterkill. Farmers choose two termination dates at least 10 days apart. Soybean, corn, and milo are the preferred grain crops. Cover crop termination date trials began in 2016.
• Nitrogen response and efficiency in corn and milo. Farmers can compare their current nitrogen rate with different nitrogen rates. The farmer chooses the nitrogen source and timing. A trial can include aerial imagery of the field to assess nitrogen status.
• Late-season fungicide trial on soybean. The farmer decides the soybean variety and fungicide. Fungicide is applied at the R3 stage. MU takes aerial images and scouts twice during the trial.
If interested in participating, contact Theresa Musket at [email protected] or 573-884-8696.
