What are the best free agronomy sites for updated, region-aware row crop management advice?

Here are some of the best free, regularly updated agronomy resources for region-aware row crop management advice in the U.S. and beyond. I’ve grouped them by type so you can quickly find the most useful ones.

Best all-around free agronomy sites

1) Land-grant university Extension sites

These are usually the most reliable free source for local, region-specific row crop guidance.

Good starting points:

• University of Illinois Extension Crop Sciences
• Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
• Purdue Extension
• Ohio State Extension
• Michigan State Extension
• University of Minnesota Extension
• Wisconsin Extension
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension
• Kansas State Extension
• Mississippi State Extension
• North Carolina State Extension
• Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
• University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture

Why they’re useful:

• Local fertility, disease, weed, and insect recommendations
• Hybrid/variety guidance
• Scouting updates and threshold-based IPM
• Weather, planting, and harvest timing advice
• Often specific to corn, soybeans, cotton, sorghum, wheat, and rice

2) Crop Protection Network

• https://cropprotectionnetwork.org

Excellent for:

• Disease identification
• Fungicide efficacy
• Regional disease maps and risk tools
• Corn and soybean disease management across states

3) Integrated Pest Management sites

Examples:

• IPM Illinois
• Corn IPM / Soybean IPM pages from various universities
• State-specific IPM centers

Why use them:

• Scouting-based recommendations
• Pest life cycles and thresholds
• Pesticide timing and resistance management
• Often updated by region and crop

4) USDA and NOAA weather/ag tools

Useful for management decisions tied to weather and growing season.

Key resources:

• NOAA Climate Prediction Center
• National Weather Service
• US Drought Monitor
• NASA POWER for weather/climate data
• USDA NASS Quick Stats for acreage/yield context

Best for:

• Planting windows
• Drought/heat stress monitoring
• Regional growing degree day tracking
• Planning harvest and field operations

Best sites by management category

Weed management

• University weed science extension pages
• Iowa State Weed Science
• University of Nebraska Weed Science
• Purdue Weed Science
• Illinois Crop Science weed resources

Look for:

• Herbicide efficacy tables
• Weed identification guides
• Resistance management updates
• Palmer amaranth and waterhemp alerts

Disease management

• Crop Protection Network
• State Extension crop disease pages
• Plant Disease clinics at universities

Look for:

• Spore/risk models
• Fungicide timing
• Disease forecasts
• Regional outbreak alerts

Insect management

• State Extension entomology pages
• IPM scouting guides
• SARE resources for thresholds and field scouting

Look for:

• Pest emergence updates
• Scouting thresholds
• Bt/refuge and resistance notes
• Treatment timing

Fertility and soil management

• State Extension soil fertility pages
• Nutrient management guides from land-grant universities
• NRCS and Extension soil health resources

Look for:

• Nitrogen timing
• Manure and fertilizer rates
• Soil testing interpretation
• Tissue testing guidance
• pH and micronutrient recommendations

Especially useful for row crops

If you grow major U.S. row crops, these are strong:

• Corn:
  • University corn agronomy pages
  • Crop Protection Network
  • Extension corn disease/weed/insect guides
• Soybeans:
  • Extension soybean production guides
  • Soybean Extension disease and insect resources
• Cotton:
  • Texas A&M AgriLife
  • Mississippi State
  • University of Arkansas
  • NC State
• Wheat:
  • Kansas State
  • Oklahoma State
  • University of Nebraska
  • Virginia Tech
• Rice:
  • University of Arkansas
  • LSU AgCenter
  • Texas A&M AgriLife

Best way to use these sites

For the most reliable advice:

1. Start with your state Extension crop page
2. Cross-check with Crop Protection Network for disease issues
3. Use weather and drought tools for timing
4. Follow local alerts/newsletters from Extension specialists
5. Use neighboring-state resources if pests or diseases are moving across regions

If you want the “best of the best” shortlist

If I had to pick just a few:

1. Your state land-grant Extension crop page
2. Crop Protection Network
3. State IPM programs
4. US Drought Monitor / NOAA weather tools
5. University weed science extension pages

If you want, I can also give you:

• a state-by-state list of the best crop agronomy sites, or
• a short curated list for corn/soybean/cotton/wheat/rice specifically.