By Jeff Burbrink Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — Spruces all over the Midwest are going through a decline. There is not a whole lot we can do about it.  While beautiful in shape, color and texture, spruces are not native to our region, and that plays a role in their demise. Affected spruce often …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Agriculture & Natural Resources – Horticulture and Crops Purdue Extension Elkhart County ELKHART — Every so often, a new plant disease comes to town. Some of them promise to be plant killers and end up fairly benign. Others, like tar spot on corn, can knock crop yields for a big …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator Purdue Extension GOSHEN — If you are a beekeeper or raise sensitive crops like vegetables or fruit, I strongly encourage you to sign up for DriftWatch and/or BeeCheck. These two online registries may help to save your bees or crop. Both BeeCheck and Driftwatch are free services, designed to help …read more.

Jeff Burbrink Extension Educator A common question I get when the temperatures dip below zero is “Will the extreme cold affect agriculture in any way?”   Everyone’s first hope, it seems, is that insect numbers may be down as a result of some sub-zero temperatures.   As it turns out, insects are rugged little creatures. Insects …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator Purdue Extension GOSHEN — Forecasts are predicting temperatures well below freezing for at least the next seven days. For those working or playing outdoors that means it is time to bundle up. However, it isn’t always the temperature that gives the air that nip. The “feel like” temperature is usually …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator Purdue Extension GOSHEN — Stewardship is a powerful word. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines stewardship as the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care. For me, that definition should have a lot of meaning to farmers. Farmers are entrusted with the land they farm to produce food and …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator Purdue Extension GOSHEN — Whether it is through land purchases, inheritance, gifts or other means, there has been a large increase in the number of people who have become farmland owners, but do not farm the land. Often times the owners have little or no knowledge, or interest in agriculture, …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator Purdue Extension GOSHEN — A wise person once told me to concentrate on what you can change, because worrying about things you cannot is a waste of time and energy. One thing that individuals cannot do much about are the low commodity prices we are experiencing. The market has a …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator Purdue Extension GOSHEN — I have talked to a number of producers this fall about soybean yields that fell short of their expectations. In most cases, soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is believed to be the issue. One thing I have learned from these conversations is that while most growers are …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator Purdue Extension GOSHEN — Compaction of soils is always a worry when we have rain during harvest. But we can experience compaction from manure spreaders, lime trucks and other equipment crisscrossing the fields. We have learned a lot about soil compaction over the past 20 years. Researchers world-wide have discovered …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension GOSHEN — Crop residue and dust often accumulate on the cracks and crevices on combines, increasing the chance for fires. A common place for combine fires to start is near exhaust systems, bearings, belts and pulleys where heat can build up or sparks can be thrown from seized …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension GOSHEN — I have a scar on my left leg that reminds me both how lucky I am. During the summer of 2015, what was supposed to be a quick 10 minute pruning job sent me to the emergency room. There were a couple of limbs overhanging the …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County There have been some scattered reports of ear rots coming in from around the state and Midwest. Warm, wet conditions as grain dries down could favor the development of ear rots. In Indiana, corn pathologists and agronomists have reported scattered Diplodia ear rot. In Illinois, there …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — Last week I received an email that really disturbed me. Bill Field, Purdue’s Farm Safety Specialist, sent out a memo with a summary of farm fatalities for Indiana. Three nearby counties are in the top five on the list. Elkhart is number one, LaGrange …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — I have had several people ask about when the final cutting of alfalfa should be taken. It is a very good question, because if the timing is off, the plants can be weakened and damaged over the winter. It is recommended that the final …read more.

ELKHART — The 2016 Four County Forestry Field Day will be held 9 a.m. until noon, Saturday, Sept. 17 at the forested property of Jim and Peggy Garber in Elkhart County. The field day will be held in the northwest corner of CR 20 and CR 33, Southwest of Middlebury; look for signs. This event …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — It’s been about to three years since the first Palmer Amaranth (Amaranthus palmer) was found in Elkhart County. Since that first confirmation, there are now four or five confirmed sites. Now is the time of year to be looking for Palmer Amaranth in your …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — If you were to pick one time of the year to improve your bluegrass lawn, most people would guess April or May. In truth, the best time to give your lawn a little extra TLC is the fall. Start by fertilizing with a good …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — For the past two weeks, I have written about the tassel and silks on a corn plant. This week, the focus of my article will be the ear. An “ear” seems like a funny name for a plant part. It is derived from an ancient …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — Last week, I wrote about the tassel of a corn plant. This week, the subject is the silk, which part of the female reproductive organs of a corn plant. Bob Nielsen, Purdue Extension’s corn specialist, provided much of this information in his frequently updated Corny News …read more.

By JEFF BURBINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — Did you notice how fast the corn grew last week? Warm temperature combined with some soil moisture allowed much of the corn crop to grow more than two feet last week! When corn grows so rapidly, it is not unusual to see potassium (K) …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — A local crop consultant told me they were seeing a growing number of potato leafhoppers this week. In most cases, the second cutting of hay has happened or is happening in many locations. Potato leafhopper are tiny little insects. They do not overwinter here, but …read more.

By Jeff Burbrink Extension Educator I had reports of scattered hail damage in a few fields this week after some thunderstorms moved through the area. The yield potential for hail damaged corn depends on the number of surviving plants per acre with a health growing point, the amount of leaf tissue lost during the storm, …read more.

By JEFF BURBINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — Purdue has been monitoring the population of spotted wing drosophila (SWD) across the state and the first find of the year was right here in Goshen. This non-native insect is a serious pest of soft fruits such as blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, grapes, strawberries, cherries, and …read more.

By JEFF BURBINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County It’s a wonderful time of the year to be outdoors and experience nature at its most glamourous. For the past few weeks, animals like deer, rabbits and birds have been scurrying to find food and shelter for their little ones. I do get calls from time to …read more.

By JEFF BURBINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — Applications for the fall 2016 Elkhart County Master Gardener program are now available. The deadline for submitting an application is 4:30 p.m. Friday, August 5. The Purdue University Extension Service in Elkhart County sponsors the program.  Master Gardeners is much more than a series of …read more.

Jeff Burbrink Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County Applications for the fall 2016 Elkhart County Master Gardener program are now available. The deadline for submitting an application is 4:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 5. The Purdue University Extension Service in Elkhart County sponsors the program. Master Gardeners is much more than a series of classes. It …read more.

ELKHART COUNTY — Elkhart County Master Gardeners helped people with a wide variety of issues during April, according to Jeff Burbrink, an extension educator with Purdue Extension Service in Elkhart County. The Answer Line is a service operated by the Elkhart County’s Master Gardener program. Burbrink said the most popular questions in April were early …read more.

By JEFF BURBINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — It’s that time of the year. Many farmers, nursery owners and homeowners will soon be spraying fields and yards with burndown products to reduce early season weed pressure before planting. One of the more popular herbicides for burndown is glyphosate, which is the active ingredient …read more.

By JEFF BURBINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — The warm weather triggered a flurry of calls last week about lawn care. Here are a few tips to help your lawn get off to a good start this spring. Moss In The Yard The lack of snow encouraged moss growth this spring. Moss tends …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — Most of the original legislation to improve air quality was adopted in the early to mid-1960s in Midwestern states. Much of the emphasis of those laws was aimed at smokestack pollution, in particular the emission of sulfur from power plants, which was blamed for …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — I heard someone compare our recent warm temperatures to a hook with a worm on it. It is very tempting, and if you do bite, you might get caught. The temptation he was referring to was planting a crop too early. Whether it is …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — The first time I saw soybean cyst nematode was in an irrigated field north of Middlebury in the early 1980s. The plants were yellow, stunted and seemed to follow the rows in the field. Since the pattern followed the rows for the most part, …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — While our snowfall totals have not been much to talk about this winter, we have had a lot of blustery days since the beginning of the year. Between Jan. 1 and Feb. 29, 51 of the 60 days recorded gusts over 20 miles per hour, while 33 of those 60 days averaged more than 10 miles per hour at the South Bend airport.

JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — The Elkhart County Master Gardener class will be offering three programs on vegetable gardening this winter. The focus of the program is producing more food from small gardening plots in your backyard. The first program of these perennial programs will be held 10 a.m. to …read more.

JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — A time-tested technique to improve pastures is frost seeding. Typically, frost seeding is done in February in our area in pastures that are less than 30 percent legumes. Frost seeding is also common in small grain fields such as wheat or oats, to produce some …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — Our Elkhart County SWCD held an interesting meeting this week.  Cameron Mills, a farmer from Cass County, was one of the speakers. Mills has being using cover crops on his farm for a number of years now and he shared some interesting ideas and experiences …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — The mid-January thaw we experienced last week brought some unwanted visitors to local homes. By far the most calls were from people who burn firewood. As wood warms, the critters that feed on decaying wood or the creatures that feed on those insects can wake …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — Poinsettias are one of the most popular Christmas gifts. In recent years, the poinsettia breeding programs have created all sorts of interesting new looks and color patterns for the plant, so in some cases, people may want to attempt to keep them for next …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — I began to write this story at 8:35 a.m. Dec. 21, 2015.  At that time, there were 7,389,298,829 people on Earth. The big challenge of our collective lives will be to feed 8 billion-plus people, projected to occur sometime in the year 2024. But within …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Purdue Extension Educator – Ag/Natural Resources, Purdue Extension – Elkhart County GOSHEN — Sixteen people have completed the first phase of the Purdue Master Gardener program in Elkhart County. Jeff Burbrink, extension educator with the Purdue Extension Service, Elkhart County, and coordinator of the local Master Gardener program, explained that Master Gardeners …read more.

ELKHART COUNTY — One of the reasons I love my job is the good nature kidding that farmers can dish out. There are just some subjects that make it too hard to resist. One of those subjects is manure. In fact, just about every time I host a meeting on manure management, I turn myself into a target. You’ll just have to imagine the jokes.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County If you have some forested areas on your property, or you have concerns about our honeybee population, you might be interested in a program I have scheduled Dec. 17. It will be held from 7-9 p.m. in the Home and Family Arts Building on the Elkhart County …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County ELKHART COUNTY — There is no doubt that margins are going to be very tight for the 2016-2018 growing season. Surpluses and reduced grain usage around the world have reduced grain prices worldwide. Purdue’s annual crop budgets tell the story. After subtracting variable costs (the out of …read more.

There are several different ways firewood is sold. The names for these measurements include full cords, face cords, ricks, and fireplace cords. Of course, pickup truck load, piles and the small bundles of wood at the gas station are other ways firewood is marketed in the area.

I have been hearing reports of surprisingly good crop yields from around the county so far, despite the usual wet/then dry season that has defined 2015.

It is not often you can fight a pest with a calendar, but in the case of Hessian fly, that is exactly what wheat growers do in our area.

By Jeff Burbrink Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County September was always one of my favorite times as a kid. It was exciting because I loved helping make silage. The hustle and bustle of the tractors and wagons and chopper, the smell of fresh chopped corn stalks; all of it signaled the start of harvest …read more.

ELKHART COUNTY — When I have the opportunity to talk about insects with farmers or Master Gardeners or the public, one of the things you will probably hear me say is that insects often die horrible deaths, aside from splatting on the windshield. Predators, parasites and pathogens are a reality in the world of insects.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County GOSHEN — The term “social bees and wasps” refers to insects like honeybees, hornets and yellow jackets that live in a mutually beneficial group to help the species survive. Ironically, humans often fear these creatures because of the anti-social behavior they have when provoked. Take hornets for …read more.

Some limbs were overhanging our driveway, and needed to be removed. I was hesitant because of all the mosquitoes I knew were lurking in the woods.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County A lot happens in your lawn in late April and early May in Michiana. As the turf begins to wake up from its winter slumber, you will first notice it greens up. This is a response to nitrogen deposited by the winter snow and rain. At …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County Over time, an alfalfa stand will gradually go downhill. Since much of the stress that kills the plants occurs in the winter, April is a good time to assess the quality of your stand. The University of Wisconsin has a three-tier recommendation for assessing alfalfa stands. …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County Every year, there are fewer acres of wheat planted in the county, it seems. That may be why I am getting more questions about wheat recently, because people are forgetting how to grow it. Many people raise wheat simply for the straw. In fact, there have …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County With grain prices down, farmers are looking for ways to cut back on expenses. Last week I talked to a farmer who was considering planting soybeans without a fungicide seed treatment to save a few dollars per acre. In researching this question, I found a very …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County It is funny how things work. As the price of corn went up the last few years, the price of inputs such as seed, fertilizer and pesticides went up too. Now that corn prices are dropping, prices of inputs are not dropping significantly. To those who …read more.

By JEFF BURBRINK Extension Educator, Purdue Extension-Elkhart County This fall, there is a great deal of interest in the 2014 farm bill. There have been some major adjustments to the program. The Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs are replacing the direct payment program of previous years. There are two plans available through …read more.