MN AG EXPO, Minnesota’s premier indoor agricultural exhibit, is just around the corner. MN AG EXPO will feature a wide array of checkoff-supported research and educational resources this year. Growers will have an opportunity to visit with the individuals throughout the agriculture industry as well as connect with cutting-edge researchers and research.

Minnesota Soybean Director of Research David Kee says he’s looking forward to visiting with growers and hearing their concerns and ideas heading into the 2020 growing season.

“The innovation campus upstairs and the Minnesota Soybean booth downstairs will be displaying a diverse range of key research and educational information that all farmers will want keep on their radar,” he says. “We’re excited to talk with growers about best management practices on their land.”

This year’s Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) booth will be displaying five pests. Some are new and others need continued education and awareness.

Three weeds – Palmer amaranth, water hemp and giant ragweed – will be included.

“These three noxious weeds are no secret to the farmer and can be managed in different ways farm to farm” Kee says.

Native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, Palmer amaranth is a dioecious (has male and female plants) annual with high seed production (estimated up to ½ million/plant). Young (less than 2 inches tall) Palmer can be easily confused with other pigweeds. During optimal conditions, it has an extremely fast growth rate (measured in inches per day) and has developed resistance to several important herbicide groups. Crop loss has been documented to exceed 65 percent, dependent on weed population and pressure.

“It’s an extremely aggressive growing weed and has incredible genetic diversity,” Kee says. “Palmer amaranth is certainly a problem we don’t need in Minnesota.”

According to a recent USDA-NASS agricultural chemical report, weeds are the most common pest managed by soybean farmers. Over 95 percent of reported Minnesota soybean acres receive some type of herbicide. Seed from these three weeds are frequently cited as foreign matter issues with exported soybeans.

Other important pests in the booth this year include Soybean Gall Midge and Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN).

“There are multiple ways to control SCN in Minnesota but finding the most efficient and budget friendly way in Minnesota is vital in this farming era,” says Kathrin Bushley, assistant professor at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Plant and Microbial Biology. “Working beside MSR&PC to research SCN is vital because over 90 percent of the SCN resistant soybeans sold in the US use only the gene PI88788 to bestow SCN resistance.”

The research roundup

There will be 10 breakout posters occurring during AG EXPO. These MSR&PC funded projects posters will allow farmers and participants to discuss cutting edge research with the brightest minds in soybean research, such as Andrew Lueck’s research on effective residual herbicide combinations in dicamba-tolerant soybeans and Bob Koch’s assessment of aphid and Japanese beetle management in 2019. The diverse knowledge that will be on the upper level of the Civic Center.