In 2012, there were at least 3,527 monthly weather records for heat, rain and snow broken by extreme weather events that hit communities throughout the U.S., according to an updated interactive extreme weather mapping tool and year-end review released by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The 2012 tally exceeds the 3,251 records smashed in 2011 and catalogues these record-breaking extreme events in all 50 states.

University of Missouri Extension has released a free app for iPhones, iPads and Android devices to help people easily identify weeds in the field, lawn or garden. Kevin Bradley, MU Extension weed scientist, unveiled the app at the MU Crop Management Conference, Dec. 19 in Columbia. The app, called ID Weeds, has information on more than 400 plant species that could be encountered as weeds in crop fields, pastures, lawns, gardens or aquatic areas in Missouri and surrounding states.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack designated 597 counties in 14 states as primary natural disaster areas due to drought and heat, making all qualified farm operators in the areas eligible for low-interest emergency loans. These are the first disaster designations made by the USDA in 2013.

USDA scientists have released two mobile phone applications to make things easier for anyone who needs to adjust insecticide spray equipment.

The apps were developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists Bradley Fritz and Wesley "Clint" Hoffmann at the agency's Areawide Pest Management Research Unit in College Station, Texas. The apps are designed to ensure that aerial and ground-based crews can hit targets and minimize pesticide drift by keying in specifics on the type of equipment and pesticide they are using.

Spider mite infestations across the Texas High Plains were among the worst producers have had to deal with in years, said a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service entomologist.

Ed Bynum, AgriLife Extension entomologist, said corn producers primarily saw populations of the Banks grass mite, which “are supposedly easier to control than the two-spotted spider mite.”

But, Bynum said, this year many producers had a hard time controlling any mites with a single miticide application.

Vegetated drainage ditches can help capture pesticide and nutrient loads in field runoff, USDA scientists report. These ditches – as common in the country as the fields they drain – give farmers a low-cost alternative for managing agricultural pollutants and protecting natural resources.

Despite getting some big storms last month, much of the U.S. is still desperate for relief from the nation's longest dry spell in decades. And experts say it will take an absurd amount of snow to ease the woes of farmers and ranchers.

The 2013 Mid-America Alfalfa Expo & Conference will offer a special presentation of the Alfalfa Intensive Training Seminar, an industry trade show and a fundraising auction.

The featured presenter will be Dan Undersander, professor of agronomy at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Sponsored by the Nebraska Alfalfa Marketing Association (NAMA), the Mid-America Alfalfa Expo & Conference will be held in Kearney, Nebraska, Feb. 5 and 6.

Every year farmers spend a lot of money trying to control corn rootworm larvae, which are a significant threat to maize production in the U.S. and, more recently, in Europe. University of Illinois researchers have been working on validating a model for estimating damage functions.

Nicholas Tinsley, a doctoral candidate in crop sciences, has refined a model developed in 2009 by researchers at the University of Wisconsin and in Brescia, Italy, to describe the relationship between root injury caused by these pests and yield loss.