Authors: Natalie Hoidal & Marissa Schuh It is dry, great for field work, but a little unnerving. Portions of the state are abnormally dry and a few spots have tipped over into moderate drought, but we are avoiding the drought a lot of the country is in . NOAA’s last release of seasonal precipitation and temperature forecasts are giving an equal chance of above or below average precipitation (we are due for new seasonal forecast releases soon). 10 day forecasts are showing a pretty good chance of rain sometime Sunday through Tuesday for much of the state. Still deciding how to deal with crop residue or an overwintered cover crop? If you have a lot of crop residue in your fields, you have a few options. Check out recent video about methods for terminating cover crops if you’re still deciding what to do with overwintered cover crops like rye, vetch, or winter wheat. The obvious answer is to till residues into the soil if your goal is to plant as quickly as possible. While tilling i...
Article written by Madeline Wimmer, UMN Extension Fruit Production Educator. Apples Growth stage and pest management update: Petal fall Article: Considerations for fruit thinning for normal and cold damage years Fruit thinning at petal fall Article: European red mite (ERM; occasional pest) + Beneficial insect highlight: Predatory mites Grapes Canopy management: Shoot thinning (video link included) Berries Article: Spotted Wing Drosophila parasitoid found in Minnesota Video: Honeyberries/haskap: New video highlighting grower practices UMN Extension Fruit Crop Reporting Tool Apples Growth stage and pest management update: Petal fall Images: Late stage petal fall seen in Zestar! (left) and early stage petal fall in Gala (right) correlates with bloom timing for these two varieties. Photos taken at Sekapp Orchard of Rochester, MN, on May 14, 2026. After full bloom, once pollination window has ended, those apple fruitlets that were successfully pollinated will begin to develo...