Featured in this monthly newsletter are several webinars, resources, and articles to help you plan your 2026 growing season. Additionally, browse on-farm research opportunities and upcoming events. Read below and visit our website to learn more.

2026 Wisconsin Custom Rate Survey launches for Wisconsin farmers and operators

Extension is conducting its annual survey to estimate custom rates for common Wisconsin farming operations. If you are a Wisconsin farmer or a custom operator who performed or hired custom services in 2025, please complete the sections of the survey that pertain to you.

Positive Associations of Soil Organic Matter and Crop Yields Across a Regional Network of Working Farms

Farmers across Wisconsin and Minnesota have long known that healthy soil grows better crops. Now, data collected directly from working farms helps back that up with numbers.

How much cereal rye cover crop biomass is needed to suppress troublesome weeds in Wisconsin?

Giant ragweed and waterhemp are among the most troublesome weed species in Wisconsin corn–soybean production systems. The rapid evolution of herbicide resistance in these species is especially concerning, given the limited number of effective POST herbicide options available for their control.

How Phosphorus and Potassium Move (or Don’t): The Agronomy Behind Stratification

Stratification, or the unequal distribution of nutrients within the soil profile, has been well documented across Wisconsin, with the most concentrated nutrients existing within the upper 2” of soil in all fields. 

Planting Green Soybean Systems: Soil Residual Herbicide Performance in High-Biomass Cereal Rye

Our field research demonstrates that planting green and terminating cereal rye when it reaches approximately 30–36 inches in height (~4,500 lbs of biomass per acre) or at the soybean VE stage, whichever occurs first, is a promising approach for suppressing weeds without negatively impacting soybean yield (Guilherme Chudzik’s PhD research).

Why Documented Risk Factors Should Guide Soybean Fungicide Seed Treatment Decisions

The best rainfed randomized controlled trial (RCT) data show an average fungicide seed treatment (FST) yield benefit of roughly 0.33 bu/acre — statistically marginal and unlikely to cover costs in most price environments.

Nominate a Crop Adviser to the Wisconsin Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) Board

The Wisconsin Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) Board is now accepting nominations. Please consider nominating yourself or another qualified CCA with their approval by Friday, April 17, 2026.

Boots on the Ground Version 2: AI-Driven Tools for Maximizing Soybean Yield and Profitability

Boots on the Ground Version 2: AI-Driven Tools for Maximizing Soybean Yield and Profitability includes two different projects for farmers and agronomists to explore opportunities to optimize soybean cropping systems: agronomic management comparisons and field scouting alert systems.

SlugNet: Monitor Slug Populations in Wisconsin Field Crops

Slugs are becoming an increasingly challenging pest for Wisconsin farmers, due to greater adoption of conservation cropping practices and milder winters and wetter springs. To improve our understanding of slug pressure across the state and how we can manage them, UW–Madison Extension launched SlugNet, a statewide initiative to monitor slug populations in field crops. 

Badger Crop Connect Webinar Series

April – Oct., Second and Fourth Thursdays of the month
Next webinar April 23 at 12:30 p.m. 

Get real-time expert management tips for your or your clients’ fields. Join our webinars to hear from UW–Madison corn, soybean, small grain, and forage management researchers throughout the Wisconsin growing season. Earn free CCA credits for every webinar you attend.

SnapPlus Version 3 Webinar Training Series

Began April 21
April – July: Various Dates from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Join Extension and DATCP to walk through some of the newest features in SnapPlus Version 3 (V3). Each free webinar will have a 45-60 minute tutorial on a new SnapPlus feature, followed by a 30 minute open office hour where participants will have the ability to meet one-on-one with staff to ask specific questions and get additional information. Webinar topics include adding crops, setting rotations, understanding planting and application seasons; nutrient systems and template building; annual updates; silurian bedrock plan features; winter manure applications; and grazing.

Soil Health Basics

April 22 from 12 – 1 p.m.
Online

You have likely heard about the importance of soil health, but if you are new to the topic, it is easy to become overwhelmed. In this webinar, we will clarify what we mean we say soil health, learn about simple observations you can make on your farm to determine the current health of your soil, and discuss practices you can implement to build soil health.

Fundamentals of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for Greenhouses and Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA)

April 30 from 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Online

This webinar is designed to provide a solid understanding of IPM principles and practices for growers utilizing controlled environment agriculture (CEA) systems, including greenhouses, high tunnels, and other controlled environment systems, to produce ornamental, edible, or industrial crops.

Cover Crop & Forage Field Day

May 7 from 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Marshfield

Extension is hosting a free cover crop and forage field day at the Marshfield Agricultural Research Station on May 7 from 10am–12:30pm. Light refreshments will be provided by the EPPIC farmer-led watershed group.

Foundational Crop Scouting Field Day

May 19 from 10 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Janesville

This hands-on training will cover filling out crop scouting reports; stand assessment and crop growth staging for corn, soybean, wheat, and alfalfa crops; the basics of collecting sweep net samples in alfalfa; and early-season insect and weed identification.

Save the Date: UW Agronomy and Soils Field Day

Aug. 26
Arlington Agricultural Research Station

Join UW–Madison grain agronomy, field crop pathology, weed management, soils, forage, and farm economics researchers for a half-day field-based tour of the latest ongoing trials and research updates.

Wisconsin Vegetable Crop Update Newsletter

Veggie producers, sign up to receive tailored updates from the UW–Madison Departments of Plant Pathology, Entomology, Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences, and Soil and Environmental Science. 

Sign up by contacting Dr. Amanda Gevens.

Wisconsin Fruit News

Fruit producers, sign up to receive tailored updates from the UW–Madison Fruit Program. Sign up and read more here.

Field Notes - DATCP's Pest Survey Program Newsletter

Sign up to receive pest monitoring data and maps, current articles on economically important plant pests affecting Wisconsin's field crops, fruits, vegetables, nurseries, and forests. Sign up on DATCP's website or read newsletters on the web here.  

UW–Madison Division of Extension Crops and Soils Program

Find articles, resources, educational events and more at cropsandsoils.extension.wisc.edu

The University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension provides equal opportunities in employment and programming in compliance with state and federal law.

Partially supported by National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Crop Protection and Pest Management-Extension Implementation Program award number 2024-70006-43559.