debugging field crop production

Spring has sprung but you wouldn’t know it based on the weather. Average temperatures this week ranged from the low to upper 30s statewide, between 4 and 10 degrees below normal for mid-March. The cooler week was led by very low temperatures and wind chills last weekend. Actual temperatures observed last weekend include 6 degrees in Will County and 8 degrees in Lee and McLean Counties. These extreme temperatures followed a winter season that was noticeably absent prolonged cold.…

As in past years, our Moth Trapping Network is set to begin April 1 with our spring migratory insects. We are currently looking for cooperators to monitor both black cutworm and true armyworm traps from April 1 – May 31. Requirements for trapping:

• Set up traps provided.
• Check traps regularly. Ideally, we’d like traps to be checked every other day to help accurately identify significant moth flights, but checking on Monday,

…

Helped more than hurt overall by periods of dry weather during the season, the 2023 Illinois corn averaged 214 bushels per acre, the highest yield on record. We’ll look at some results from N fertilizer trials in 2022 and consider how we manage N for the upcoming season. N rate Figure 1 below shows N responses for corn following soybean in nine N rate trials in central Illinois in 2022. These are drawn using actual data points (yields at each N rate averaged over reps),…

March 7, 2023  University of Illinois Extension hosted a farmer conference at the Beef House in Covington, Indiana. The All Day Ag Outlook has been held annually since 1991. This year’s event showcased U of I College of ACES farmdoc team members, WILLAg On Air market analysts, the Illinois FBFM, agricultural weather, and John Deere computer intelligence. We are hopeful you find the linked audio presentations from the day insightful. These files have been compiled into a single playlist which you may use to review or share the content.…