The University of Wisconsin's Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program announced the launch of the IPM Toolkit Version 1.0, available for free in the iTunes app store. The first generation app makes mobile many of the great tools available through the Integrated Pest and Crop Management website, which was updated recently.

Recognizing the need to access data at different times and from any location, the IPM Toolkit was developed to run on mobile devices, enabling users to stay up-to-date as items get posted on the Internet throughout the growing season.

FMC Corporation announced its “Stand and Be Heard Anthem Singing Contest,” an opportunity for students in agriculture to showcase their patriotic singing skills for a chance to win scholarship prizes. Any member of a national agricultural student organization is invited to submit an audition video singing the national anthem. Participants may submit their entries online until June 15.

More rain came to most of Texas, improving drought-damaged pastures and rangeland, according to Texas AgriLife Extension Service personnel.

The rains greatly improved the agricultural situation, according to weekly reports, but many ranchers were still feeding hay, though the green-up allowed them to cut back. The warmer-than-normal weather and moisture also brought on weed growth in pastures, particularly those pastures damaged by last year’s drought.

Haymaking conditions in the spring are often poor and hay can be rained on or left lying in the field for prolonged time periods due to cool and humid conditions which reduces drying rates. The long drying periods with high humidity allow field growth of mold on the hay.

The Mosaic Nutrient Removal data app has been selected by CropLife magazine as one of the 10 best apps for agriculture. More than 4,000 farmers have discovered this tool, which provides nutrient removal data by yield for 36 different crops. Results can be stored as a profile and emailed to contacts for use in input planning. Developed for growers using years of accumulated nutrient removal research, the free app is designed to help farmers put the data to work to produce higher yields.

A good weed control strategy in alfalfa is fundamental to a strong yield performance, say experts from Pioneer Hi-Bred. "Successful weed control has been an ongoing challenge for alfalfa growers," says Dave Miller, Ph.D., Pioneer alfalfa breeder.

A new model predicts that atrazine, plus its breakdown product deethylatrazine, has less than a 10 percent chance of exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) standard for public drinking-water supplies in shallow groundwater in about 95 percent of the nation’s agricultural areas. Atrazine is a commonly used herbicide for weed control in corn and sorghum production. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) director Marcia McNutt said, “With the intensive, widespread use of the herbicide atrazine in agricultural production, some communities will need to carefully monitor the risk to groundwater and human health from this contaminant and its residues.

Technological advancements in the irrigation equipment market are accelerated by the need to save water, save energy, save labor and do a better job of irrigating. Communicating available water application solutions is more important than ever. After several years of research and development, Nelson Irrigation is pleased to announce that its new web site is complete and available for viewing worldwide.

A Colorado State University biologist will lead a national team that will experimentally impose severe drought in Great Plains grasslands and evaluate how the landscape responds – the first large-scale project of its kind. The National Science Foundation has awarded $3.7 million to Alan Knapp, a biology professor and senior ecologist with the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at Colorado State and principal investigator on the project. He will team with Melinda Smith at Yale University (who will soon join the Colorado State faculty), Scott Collins at the University of New Mexico and Yiqi Luo at the University of Oklahoma. The project is an outcome of a research working group supported by Colorado State’s School of Global Environmental Sustainability.