Chelsea Harbach Email

I received a notification on my phone this past Wednesday letting me know that it was the date of the Crop Management Conference in Macomb- the location I was going to be in charge of for the 2021 series of meetings. At some point last year, I put that date in my phone, optimistic about the chances of having face-to-face meetings during the winter of 2021. Sadly, as 2020 marched on, my optimism for 2021 marched away.…

The following is posted on behalf of Dr. Nathan Kleczewski, Field Crops Pathologist for Growmark. This content is from the Field Crop Disease Hub webpage Dr. Kleczewski curated. 
This week, growers and ag professionals have noticed round tan-colored lesions with red margins and yellow halos on Illinois corn. These symptoms likely were a minor disease called Holcus spot. Holcus spot is a bacterial disease of corn that can occur on young corn and is rarely damaging.…

The following is posted on behalf of Dr. Nathan Kleczewski, Field Crops Pathologist for Growmark. This content is from the Field Crop Disease Hub webpage Dr. Kleczewski curated. 
Wheat in the southern part of Illinois is approaching heading or just headed, which means that flowering will start within 4-5 days, depending on temperature (heads produce small yellow anthers-(Figure 1)) Vomitoxin (DON) can accumulate in the absence of significant visual symptoms, and thus that is often the focus of my Fusarium head blight (FHB) recommendations. …

The following is posted on behalf of Dr. Nathan Kleczewski, Field Crops Pathologist for Growmark. This content is from the Field Crop Disease Hub webpage Dr. Kleczewski curated. 
Kelly Estes, Nicholas Seiter, and I will be compiling an annual report detailing the applied research trials and data that are available to share with the public.  These reports will be permanently housed on this website along with new factsheets and reports in Spring, 2019.
Data included in these unbiased research trials are for informational purposes only.…

The following is posted on behalf of Dr. Nathan Kleczewski, Field Crops Pathologist for Growmark. This content is from the Field Crop Disease Hub webpage Dr. Kleczewski curated. 
Soybean Cyst Nematode is an extremely important, yield-limiting pathogen of soybeans in Illinois, reducing yields an average of 1-3% across the state.  As I have written in earlier posts, sampling your fields every 3-5 years to assess SCN levels and HG types is the first step in managing this issue. …

The following is posted on behalf of Dr. Nathan Kleczewski, Field Crops Pathologist for Growmark. This content is from the Field Crop Disease Hub webpage Dr. Kleczewski curated. 
Charcoal rot is a disease that we see in years where soybeans are stressed for a significant portion of the season due to drought.  If you look at older references and publications in the field of soybean pathology, you will see that many show images of microsclerotia,…

The following is posted on behalf of Dr. Nathan Kleczewski, Field Crops Pathologist for Growmark. This content is from the Field Crop Disease Hub webpage Dr. Kleczewski curated. 
The harvest in 2018 has been marred by frequent rains that resulted in soybeans in portions of the state being left out longer than desired.  As expected, more attention to these unharvested beans resulted in more observations.  One common observation was the presence of various types of black growth on stems of senesced plants,…

The following is posted on behalf of Dr. Nathan Kleczewski, Field Crops Pathologist for Growmark. This content is from the Field Crop Disease Hub webpage Dr. Kleczewski curated. 
As we finish our corn harvest in 2018, we have noticed an increasing amount of information pertaining to tar spot circulating through the agronomic community that is not entirely correct.  Let’s take a minute to clarify some of the more commonly encountered rumors and set the record straight.…

The following is posted on behalf of Dr. Nathan Kleczewski, Field Crops Pathologist for Growmark. This content is from the Field Crop Disease Hub webpage Dr. Kleczewski curated. 
If you do not think tar spot is an issue for corn production in Illinois and the region, please view this video from our colleague in Northern Illinois.   This is why I have been receiving several calls and emails daily on this disease, and many people are wondering what we know and what they can do to manage it. …