Advanced Crop Advisers Workshop Set For Feb. 9-10 In Fargo

Jan 11, 2016

The workshop is designed for those who advise farmers with crop production recommendations.

The Advanced Crop Advisers Workshop is scheduled for Feb. 9-10 at the Holiday Inn in Fargo.

The workshop is designed to provide in-depth discussion of selected topics for agricultural professionals to enhance their crop production recommendations for farmers.

The event is organized and conducted by the North Dakota State University Extension Service and University of Minnesota Extension.

Feb. 9 educational sessions are:

Alternate crop disease management
Microorganisms and cover crops
What’s emerging with corn stands?
Insect and disease issues
Utilizing Iowa experience to assist us with managing herbicide-resistant weeds

Also, the presentation “African and Asian small-scale farming: What can we learn?” will be given during lunch.

Feb. 10 educational sessions are:

Current and future farm financial challenges
Controlling herbicide-resistant weeds
Developing water issues facing agriculture
Split nitrogen application for corn and wheat

Preregistration is required. The workshop fee is $140 if received by Feb. 5, or $75 if attending one day. Late registration fees are $175 or $100 for one day. The fee includes three meals and refreshment breaks, and reference materials.

Certified crop advisers will have the opportunity to receive 11 continuing education units.

A brochure that contains workshop details, including a preregistration form, is at http://bit.ly/CarringtonRECworkshop. Electronic preregistration and credit card payment can be made at http://.tinyurl.com/CRECstore.

Source: ndsu.edu

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.