The 2015 Dixon Springs Agronomy and Horticulture Field Day presented by the University of Illinois, Department of Crop Sciences will be held on Thursday, August 6 at the Dixon Springs Ag Center.
The research center is located on IL Route 145, near Glendale, IL, 25 miles south of Harrisburg and 25 miles north of Paducah, KY.
Tours will start at 9:00 AM with the final bus leaving at 9:20. A lunch to follow will be provided by sponsors and UI Extension.…
Crazy top, named for the odd formations of the leaves or tassel due to hormonal effects of the disease, is typically found on corn plants that were submerged for a few days early in the growing season. A description of the disease and of its symptoms can be found at http://bulletin.ipm.illinois.edu/pastpest/articles/200220c.html
While a lot of corn was submerged during early growth in Illinois this year, we haven’t been seeing a lot of this disease.…
The 2015 Illinois corn crop continues to develop on schedule, with 75% of the crop having reached silking by July 19. But the crop condition rating continues its steady downward trend, with the good + excellent percentage now at 55%, down from its high of 79% at the end of May. Virtually all of this decline is due to standing water, past or present.
Rainfall frequency and amount has moderated some, but parts of western Illinois have received more than 6 inches so far in July.…
The 2015 Orr Center Field Day presented by the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois will be held on Wednesday, July 22 at the Orr Center, which is located on Route 104 four miles west of the junction of Illinois Routes 104 and 107.
Tours will start at 9:00 AM, by group with the last group leaving by 9:20. The tour will take about two hours, and will be followed by lunch provided by UI Extension.…
Some rain has fallen somewhere in Illinois nearly every day for the past 3 weeks, and rainfall totals for this period exceed 7 inches – two to three times normal – over more than half of the state (Figure 1). This has a lot of people wondering if enough nitrogen remains in the soil to supply the corn crop.
Daily high temperatures have averaged close to normal over the past three weeks, while night temperatures have been 3 to 4 degrees above normal,…
Rainfall in April and May has been about average through most of Illinois, at least until the downpours the last days of May. This has allowed timely planting and a good start to the crop in most areas, and has allowed nitrogen management to be carried out more or less as planned by most producers. Warm temperatures during some weeks of May are moving crop development along, and much of the N planned for application after crop emergence has already been applied.…
Fields days organized by Crop Sciences and Extension at the University of Illinois and by other institutions will focus on crops and pests, with speakers talking about current crop issues along with information from previous research. Each event will offer CEUs for CCAs.
Following is the schedule of crop-related 2015 field days organized by University of Illinois Crop Sciences and by several other institutions.
Event
Date – start time
Food
Contact
Urbana – Weeds
June 24 –…
While research shows that the last 10 days of April is on average the best time to plant corn in Illinois, expectations of below-normal temperatures in most of Illinois during the last week of April has some wondering if it makes sense to plant now or to wait until temperatures warm up.
Averaged over the past 22 years, Illinois corn producers have planted 16% of the crop by April 20. NASS reported that 15% of the crop was planted by April 19 this year,…
Most corn producers have planned their spring N program for 2015, and many have already started to implement their program. Such plans might include fall ammonia application, early spring application of ammonia or another form of N, or plans to apply all of the N at or after planting. In recent years there has been a trend towards more applications per crop, and it’s not unusual today to have N applied three or four times on the same field.…
A lot of anhydrous ammonia is going on this spring, and in many fields the hope is to plant as soon as practicable after NH3 application. This brings up the question about potential for NH3 damage to seeds and seedlings.
Seed and seedling damage from spring-applied NH3 is relatively rare in Illinois, but it can be quite damaging, and we want to minimize the chances of it happening. Such damage is rare is because NH3 converts readily in soil to the ammonium form (NH4+) which is held on soil exchange sites and is not damaging to plant tissue.…