Crop Talk by IAS – 03/31/26

Crop Talk by IAS – Field Scouting Update | Week of March 31

Spring is waking up—and the window to get ahead is opening fast.

In this week’s Crop Talk Field Scouting Update, our IAS agronomy team shares real-time insights from across the territory as field activity ramps up. From anhydrous application and early planting progress to emerging weeds and burndown strategy, this episode is all about helping you stay one step ahead.

You’ll hear updates from our entire Iowa region—covering what’s happening right now and what to plan for next.

This week’s highlights:

• Anhydrous safety reminders for road transport and application 
• Field activity picking up across regions (tillage, fertilizer, early planting) 
• Soil conditions drying out and spring work accelerating 
• Early weed emergence and burndown timing considerations 
• Equipment readiness and input planning ahead of rain delays 
• Best practices for effective burndown applications 

As always, these are practical, local insights you can use right away—because the best decisions start in your fields.

Featured Agronomists this week include:
Nicholas Giessman (Host)
Nick Thompson (Host)
Owen Heetland
Erin Recker
Adrianna Herlache

🎧 Listen now
Have a question for the team? Send it to CropTalk@InnovativeAg.com

To learn more about Innovative Ag Services and our agronomy services, visit InnovativeAg.com/Agronomy.

Produced by IAS Communications in partnership with My Four Creative.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to Crop Talk, brought to you by Innovative Ed Services, and this is our second field scouting special. Each week from March through October, our agronomy team shares timely, boots on the ground updates from across the IAS geography so you can make confident decisions as the seasons change. Today you'll hear a quick regional update from our IAS agronomist, including what we're seeing in the fields right now, what to keep an eye on next, and a few practical scouting reminders you can put to work this week. I'm your host, Nicholas Giesman. This week we're gonna start on the Southwest side and I'm gonna pass it to Nick. Thanks, Nicholas.

SPEAKER_04 0:40

Hi, I'm Nick Thompson from the Southwest, covering Story County, Harden County, and Hamilton County. Today's topic on safety is gonna be anhydrous on the roadway. Always remember to pull your tanks at 35 miles per hour or less. You always need to make sure that our slow-moving vehicle sign must be visible from the rear of the vehicle. And one piece that is commonly forgotten is an amber signaling light. That must be visible at all times from the rear of the vehicle. And if the tanks that you are hauling are wider than the truck you are hauling it with, you must have an additional light attached to the back. The hazard lights on the truck won't be enough. If you get involved in an accident while hauling your anhydras, get yourself to safety first and immediately call the Department of Natural Resources to report the potential spill. Now we'll move on to our region update here in the southwest. Everything is dried out here with the wind, and most people are looking to get out in the fields. This past week we had our custom anhydrous applied. The tanks have been moving all week, and specialty crops such as peas are even beginning to be planted along I-35 here. Tractors are filling the roadways, either applying anhydrous manure, or doing basic tillage, just getting ready for the season. Next, I'll move it over to Owen in our northwest region.

SPEAKER_03 2:00

This is Owen Heatland in the Northwest region at the Cleese location covering Harden, Franklin, Grunde, and Butler counties. Same here as what Nick said has dried out a lot. There's a lot of guys working on inhydris. We're working on custom anhydris, and a lot of dry is going on the ground. I have seen a few customers putting down spray as far as burndown, and I have started to see some weeds starting to emerge out in the field. So as we continue to stay dry and warm, guys will get done with ammonia and dry, and then we'll move on to planting, hopefully, in the next week or two. Next, I will send it over to Aaron in the East Region.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Hi, I'm Aaron Wrecker. I'm out of the Masonville location. I cover Buchanan, Delaware, Fayette, and Clayton County. Last week's soil temperatures started warming up, so with that, a handful of fields have become ready to start in hydrous application. A lot of guys started late last week or even over the weekend, so we've kept busy hauling tanks to keep our farmers going. We do expect to be running hard the next couple of weeks. However, it's starting to look like we might get some rain this week, so depending on what Mother Nature does, it'll either give us a break or keep going. Spring fertilizer started heavy as well, so we have a couple weeks worth of acres to get knocked out. Like Owen mentioned, as I'm driving around the countryside, I'm looking around and thinking ahead. Just a reminder that spring burndown is coming up, so let's make sure we have a plan to get those cover crops and weeds terminated in a timely manner. Now I'll be passing it over to Adriana in our Southeast region.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Thank you, Erin. I am Adriana Herlash from the Southeast region, covering Jones County and parts of Delaware County. This week's been very busy for growers in my region and as you've heard others, between running in hydrus and getting fertilizer on before the rain that's coming later this week. Besides in hydrus and dry fertilizer, my recommendation to growers during the next slower couple days is to reach out to your local agronomist and start booking your direct shiploads of 32 and or 32% biomixes. While we get rain done and running in fields, we can help take care of this now before we all get super busy again. I also recommend that growers start checking their equipment if they haven't already. Making sure planners are set, side dress bars and sprayers are in full working condition. Being prepared and having equipment ready to go ensures a smooth and timely spray. If you're looking to rent any equipment from your local IES location, make sure you're reaching out to your local garments ahead of time so your IAS location can be prepared and have that equipment checked over and ready for when you're ready. Thank you. And that's all I've got for the Southeast region. Sending it back to your host, Nicholas.

SPEAKER_02 4:34

Thank you, Adriana, for the update from the Southeast. Looking at the watch list that everybody kind of talked about, it looks like we're talking about some emerging weeds, getting out there and doing some spraying. For that, I would like to pass it back to Owen. He's going to give us some knowledge on timely application and what to look for going out there and doing those pre-passes and those burndowns. Owen, what do you have for us?

SPEAKER_03 4:53

There's a couple big important things that we need to think about when we're spraying burndown. First off, is we want it to be above 50 degrees the night before we spray. And even better would be if it's above 50 for the past couple nights. We don't always get that early this spring, but that's something to look for. Another thing is making sure we have a good adjuvant load, so plenty of water, making sure we're having AMS oil if we need it to heat the product up, and then really scouting for what weeds we're gonna spray for and what products we're gonna use for them. I.e., ragweed will germinate early this time of year. Grass usually doesn't, water hemp usually doesn't. So just knowing what you're going after and uh knowing what you're putting in the tank to take care of it. And then the last thing is if we're using 32 as a carrier, making sure that we balance that and the water out to make sure that we get a good kill and don't just burn the weeds.

SPEAKER_02 5:48

That's all for this week's Crop Talk by AS. Thanks for tuning in. If any of our listeners have questions, feel free to email them to croptalk at innovativeag.com. Be sure to like, follow, and subscribe so you don't miss next week's update. And if you know a fellow grower who'd value a quick field snapshot, share this episode with them. For more agronomy resources and to connect with your local IAS team, visit InnovativeAg.com and follow Innovative Ag Services on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. We'll catch you next week on Crop Talk.