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Unlike much of the rest of the state, soils in Franklin County are relatively moist. Some of the lowest lying and/or poorest drained fields are being planted this week and will likely wrap up by early next week. There are small low spots in some earlier planted fields that will likely need to be replanted, but those areas are relatively few. Corn that has emerged is generally somewhere in the V2 to V4 stage, and emerged soybeans are generally closer to V1-V2. As we move into next week, the hot and dry conditions may start to cause some crop stress on the tops of hills and/or in areas with a shallow clay or fragipan layer. But these dry conditions will also allow for timely weed control operations, as germinating waterhemp is now commonly visible and at the optimal stage for control. Wheat in the area is still looking good, and despite the dry weather in the forecast, will likely have sufficient moisture available for good seed fill.

Wireworms are being found and hurting stands in April planted corn on hills and Sandy soils in Saline Co this week. Scout fields now.

This is the same field in White County from my 05/17 report. Plants have reached V3 stage (V1-V2 last week). Great overall weed control, along with some post-herbicide application injuries (see photos). The recent precipitation has left the fields with high moisture levels, but the dry and warm forecast along with elevated sand content in this region may cause water stress soon.

Dry conditions persist. Stress from dryness is showing in compacted or root restricted areas. Replant has wrapped up in areas that received large rains 2 weeks ago.

Conditions appear very, dry with some moisture still in the ground for recent replanted areas. Irrigation was running on corn. Crops have not quite show signs of drought stress yet but are close.

Much of Northeastern Illinois has had a precipitation-free week. Soils are drying rapidly. Soy planted just before the most recent rainfall event is struggling to emerge in some fields. The soy hypocotyl cannot push through the crusted soil surface. Fields planted in this time period warrant a field scouting trip to evaluate emerged plant population. Most corn is near the V4 stage, Waterhemp has also emerged and is growing quickly in fields. Be aware of size restrictions on both crop and weeds with planned post herbicide applications. Sidedressing of corn with nitrogen and harvesting the first cutting of hay is underway in the region.

Corn is in the V6 to V2 growth stage, except for replanted areas. Soybeans are V3 to V1 growth stage. Crusting in some soybean fields is causing stand variability where planting was done just ahead of the early May heavy rains. Rotary hoeing may have paid in some of these fields. Currently farmers are side-dressing N in corn and are making post-emergence herbicide applications. The past week saw only minor amounts of rainfall across DeWitt and Macon Counties.

A rain event at the end of last week slowed planting a bit but the string of dry days that have followed this week have allowed growers to catch up. Most fields in the area have been planted. The light rain and subsequent warm weather have provided fair conditions to help crops emerge.

Primary field activities: Replant prairie pot holes, herbicide application, nitrogen side-dressing and hay making. Rapidly drying out and forecast is continuing dry weather.

Top inch of soil is dry but still moisture just below. Cool nights are helpful in conserving moisture but not great for plant growth. This next week will be challenging in many places with dry soil and incoming heat wave.

Welcomed sunshine provides a boost in early season crop growth! This dry period has allowed fields to be evaluated and planned for replant as well as ponding to go away.

Some soybeans are showing signs of herbicide injury. Weeds are just starting to emerge. There was some minor bean leaf beetle feeding with a few plants showing signs of Phytopthora root rot.

Some areas of southern Illinois are getting rain after rain and as a result field conditions are terrible. While many are near finished with planting other have yet to start. Some have lost patience for good soil conditions and are going ahead with planting; the result is a lot of poor stands and fields with the seed slot open or tunneling. Overall crop rating is a 5 out of 10.

Early planted corn is now at V5/V6, while later planted corn is at V3. Fields are clean for the most part. No signs of insects or disease.

This field was replanted into the original stand because most of the field was only 50,000 plants per acre after planting early, saturated soils, and then hail. Several weeds such as waterhemp and ivyleaf morning glory are coming on strong. Post herbicide will be needed soon.

Dropped the kids off at school and ventured into the adjacent soybean fields. Progress looks much better on the field on the north side of the road from last week. Coming out of their funk.
Many fields in southern Woodford County have crops up. Corn is VE and soybeans are V1-2. Some organic fields are yet to be planted as are the pumpkin fields. Crops just to the west in Tazwell County are farther along.
It’s raining again today.

Corn is coming along, beans are being planted today (May 19th.) A good rain is needed.

Spotty rains are moving through the area on Friday, but extremely low humidity and winds have continued to pull what little moisture is there out of the soil. It is concerning with little to no significant rain chances on the horizon and possible 90 Degree temperatures over the holiday weekend. Beans are VC-V3 depending on planting dates. Small pockets of replant for corn and soybeans are seen on western Champaign and Eastern Piatt counties.

This soybean field is located in White County, just south of Carmi. Field is currently at V1 stage, with some plants reaching V2

In Piatt County, the heavy rains of May 6 -8 have caused some emergence issues in fields planted ahead of those rains. Some fields have been rotary hoed and some not. Wheat fields have finished flowering and look good. Early planted crops are growing well, corn is at V4 and soybean at V2. Ponding damage is visible in poorly drained areas of fields. Only light rain has fallen in the past week.

Most of our area has finally received some rainfall over the last week, but it has been scattered and highly variable. I have had reports of a few tenths to a few inches across the county. Much of the area has gotten about 3/4 to 1″, however, there is a band through the central part of the county that has only gotten a few tenths at best and even that was scattered across multiple days. I have a corn demonstration plot planted 5/3 that after 2 weeks barely emerged and soybeans planted that same time again with very spotty emergence. Wide spread rain is greatly needed. For those that have caught rain, crops responded almost overnight in growth. I have seen some of the largest corn fields at V3-4. PRE herbicide activation has been a concern with limited rainfall. Wheat continues to be quite happy with continued modest temperatures overall in the 70s and 80s and no excessive precipitation. We will get a better view of the wheat crop across the region next Tuesday at the Illinois Wheat Association Plot Tour, where farmer groups will canvas many of our wheat producing counties across the state, assessing crop quality and yield estimates They will wrap up at the Belleville Research Center late afternoon to view plots and report crop observations.

Most fields in the area are planted and emerged. For the most part, the crop looks to be off to a good start in most fields, with the exception a few low spots where water is or was recently standing following the rains earlier this month. With minimal rain and some warmer temperatures in the near-term forecast, farmers in the area will likely finish up any planting and replanting they have to do in the next week or so.

2.8 inches of rain over the weekend. Water standing field work has been at a stand still for the last week and will be for another week. Just a few fields left to plant in the area., Either field corn or seed corn.

This soybean field has uniform germination and good plant stand.

Corn is up. This field was planted on May 4th and had about an inch and a half of rain after it was planted followed by warmer temperatures.

We are starting to see some Black Cutworms in Western IL. Scout throughout the field and often.

Many farmers wrapped up planting this week or have a significant amount planted at this point in the season. We received critical and gentle rains that will help kickstart this season on the right foot.

Many farmers have been in the heart of planting this week and some are getting closer to finishing. We received critical and gentle rains that will help kickstart this season on the right foot.

This area received variable rains that halted planting. Some areas received anywhere from 0.75” to 5” early this week, and are receiving another 0.5” today. Planting is wrapping up for the area.

Fields near school pickup. 2 tenths of rain this morning. Need sunshine.

Last week brought a band of rain through our area with rain totals from .5″ to 4″. In the heaviest of the areas pond took 4-5 days to recede. There may be some replant in these areas. Other areas could use a half inch to aid in emergence of the last planted soybeans. Growers in Nothern Champaign and Southern Ford County postponed planting on 5/7 due to extremely hard soil conditions until after the weekend rain event passed.

Rain over the weekend through Monday was timely and provided much needed moisture. Some farmers are still working to finish planting the final fields.

Sunshine and heat, finally! Favorable growing conditions in NE Illinois. The sunshine, warmth, and needed rain gave a boost to both corn and soybean that had been slowly trying to emerge and grow. Despite concerns, I have heard few reports of emergence issues with seed sitting in cool soils for extended periods. This past weekend most areas measured between .3 to over an inch of rain. Isolated areas near Channahon and in Kankakee received 2+ inches. Soybean planting is starting to resume in the area.

Locally, we are still very dry overall. Rainfall has been very scattered with some areas having caught almost an inch, yet others not even a tenth so far. Temperatures have been moderate with highs in the 70’s to low 80’s, but some days have had a noticeable increase in humidity to more summer-like conditions. Most crops are emerged, but there are some acres left to plant. Soil moisture conditions for planting this spring have been the best I can remember for the last few years, compared with many, wet springs we have had in recent memory. The extent of the dry is starting to get concerning and most are hoping for a few inches of rain, even if they still have some acres to plant. Wheat is still looking very good, especially with the modest temperatures and dry weather. I have seen some fungicides applied earlier this week on wheat acres.

In my trip through South Central IL this past week, most fields I saw are still on the wet side. Most wheat fields are headed out and at least entering the anthesis (flowering) period. The wet soils kept the ground equipment out of many fields, but I did see at least a couple planes applying fungicide treatments.

I didn’t see much in the way of newly planted fields, and that which was planted in the last couple weeks has, for the most part, not yet emerged. That said, there were a few fields with emerged spring-planted crop. With more rain coming through this weekend, field operations will likely be delayed a bit longer in that region. But with a dry and relatively warm forecast next week, many are expecting to get back in the field.

Stand counts were taken and were really good on both corn and soybeans. There were a few patches of cereal rye that did not completely die at termination. After further inspection, we found that the seeding depth of the corn was 1 1/2 inches, which is a much shallower depth than planned.

The stands of soybeans appeared adequate for 30 inch rows. No signs of pests or other stress.

Mostly favorable growing conditions in NE Illinois. Spotty precipitation slowed some farmers who are trying to wrap up the 2023 planting season. Cooler soils slowed some soybean emergence, especially in high residue No-till fields. Those scouting soybean fields have reported some emerging soy exhibiting discolored cotyledons. Likely causes can include stressful emergence conditions, diseases, herbicide injury from pre-emergent herbicides (likely PPO-inhibiting herbicides whose injury to emerging soybeans is enhanced by cool and wet conditions). If the cotyledons have a distinctive “halo'” on the cotyledon and the soy planted was seed-treated with the fungicide fluopyram (ILeVO), the browning is the result of phytotoxicity caused by accumulation of the fungicide in the cotyledon. We encourage early season scouting but also suggest farmers observe their soybean fields for several days to a week of favorable growing conditions before making rash replant decisions. Soybean are a resilient crop that often outgrow early season issues.

We received 2 to 3 inches of rain in total over the previous weekend. This and the heat amazingly allowed the corn to break through the soil crust. Stands look so much better, but way too wet to take stand counts.

We received 3 to 3.5 inches total over the previous weekend. The hail events took place on Sunday, May 7th. Stand counts of soybeans were on the lower end before the hail. You are able to see regrowth already on soybeans thanks to warm days. We will need to reevaluate the stand at the end of the week if it does not rain again. The West side of the field is the worst. No hail injury across the county line into Montgomery County.

Several big storms over the weekend. Some ponding prior to the last one, expect more now. Tree damage, power outages, possible other damage.

2023 planting is nearly done with most farmers in the area finished planting. The dry April weather has allowed spring planting to progress quickly. The cool temperatures for the second half of April has slowed emergence and plant growth of plants that have emerged.

Planted on April 12th. Population of around 70,000 plants per acre, with many still trying to push through. We need a rain!

Planted April 18th and 19th. A few spikes can be seen coming through soil cracks. Soil is crusted, but corn remains ok beneath the sealed in soil. Dad is starting worry. We need rain!

Significant progress in planting both corn and soybeans has happened over the last 10 days. Some growers are nearing completion already! Planting conditions for corn have been relatively good, soybeans that went in early are struggling to emerge. The soil is tight and we need a rain shower to bring them the rest of the way

Wheat stands in south-central Illinois look good overall. There is some unevenness in plant heights visible across fields, which is fairly normal for the relatively flatter fields in that area, for this stage of wheat growth, and for this time of year. But the stands look good in general. Most fields I walked through or observed from the road are at or near boot stage with some in the early heading stages. Farmers are also making progress with spring planting, although very little has emerged due to the cool temperatures over the past few weeks. Also, with somewhat wetter conditions relative to much of the rest of the state, field operations have not taken place in many low-lying and/or poorly drained fields. With a rainy week ahead, some of those fields may remain unplanted for a bit longer.

All crops are planted. Corn growth stages vary from emerging to almost V3 with third leaf almost fully developed. Soybean are similar varying between just breaking through the ground to first trifoliate.

Reports of insect activity so far have focused on large/early flights of black cutworm and true armyworm, likely helped along by storms out of the southwest a couple of weeks ago. Both species are more likely to be a problem if dense vegetation is present in the field; black cutworms are especially attracted to winter annual weeds, while armyworm prefers dense grassy vegetation. Be on the lookout for seedling pests (including seed corn maggot, slugs, wireworms, etc.), which can become a problem when cool conditions delay emergence.

On May 3rd, on a crossroad survey of a 60 mile loop across northern and eastern Macon County, 80 percent of fields were planted. Corn emergence out-paced soybean emergence by about 6 to 1. The ratio varied greatly by neighborhood. The only field activity observed was widely scattered planting, dust clouds made it easy to spot.

Like many we are very dry. Despite the cool weather, the last few fronts that have passed through over the last few weeks have not left much more than a few tenths of rain. That coupled with the windy conditions, has really dried things out. We are on the down hill side of full season corn and soybean planting with the only major slow down in planting has been some cooler weather, however, that pattern is supposed to break for more spring-like temperatures. There are some corn and soybean fields up, but just barely enough that you can row them from the road. Even the earliest planted has been very slow to emerge with the cool weather and lows still dropping to near 40 degrees some nights. Wheat is appreciating the dry weather and modest temperatures and is looking very good. Hopefully we will catch some rain here in the next week!

We are likely in the cutting window in much of the state for black cutworm larvae. I have not received reports of damage yet; in addition to the timing of moth flights, note that the fields at risk of cutworm damage are generally those that have a problem with winter annual weeds – especially when those weeds are dying at around the time the crop emerges. If you had adequate, early control of these winter annuals, even a large moth flight is unlikely to result in much cutworm damage.

Continue to monitor corn and soybean fields for cutworms and armyworms. I have not had many reports of damage to this point – good early season emergence conditions go a long way towards helping the crop “outrun” this sort of damage. We ought to start seeing rootworm egg hatch over the next couple of weeks – I browsed degree day accumulations for several weather stations throughout Illinois, and most are relatively close to the 11 year average for this time of year (some a bit ahead, and some a bit behind).

Soybeans planted 4/10-13 are emerging with freeze and frost potential.

Damp and cold

Sprayers are out! The next few days will be great drying weather and I’ve heard Wednesday is the Go day for many farmers in McLean County.