March rainfall in Illinois has ranged from as much as an inch below normal in the northern third of the state, to close to normal in central Illinois, to as much as 2 to 3 inches above normal in the southern third of Illinois. This, along with some rain this week, has dampened the hope for a March start to planting in most areas. That gives us time to think about issues related to planting and early-season management.…
The Midwestern Hemp Database (MHD) is a large scale collaboration between land grant institutions, private laboratories, non-profit organizations, and grower-cooperators in the Midwest. The goal of this project is to provide regional insight into agronomic performance and cannabinoid development of hemp cultivars grown for cannabinoid production. The data generated from this project is made available through the publicly accessible interface located at: go.illinois.edu/HempDatabase.
The database contains information on production practices (planting method, row spacing,…
Applying anhydrous ammonia in the fall to provide N to the corn crop the following year has a long history in Illinois and in other parts of the Corn Belt where rotation, tillage, and manure management practices allow it. Fall application means getting a major field operation done when soil conditions are generally more favorable than they are in the spring, and it helps to spread the work load across more months. Historically, the cost of ammonia has also been lower in the fall than in the following spring,…
What a difference July rainfall makes. The U.S. Drought Map based on data through July 28 showed that only six percent of Illinois was rated as abnormally dry or with moderate drought, down from nearly 19 percent two weeks earlier. Above-normal rainfall over the past week in the southern half of Illinois will erase at least half that area, and with cooler weather this week, crop stress should be minimal during the first half of August,…
That was one heck of a storm yesterday. Many fields throughout East central Illinois were severely affected by nickel sized hail. Although my three year old stated that we should, “use some tape” to fix the damaged tissues, some will consider fungicide applications. A new post on the subject can be found here. …
That’s right, we have a new post on the Illinois Field crop Disease Hub! The topic today- considerations for planting poor quality soybean seed. click here to access the link! …
What do you need to know for the 2020 growing season? The University of Illinois will address several key topics at four regional conferences around the state in January and February. The meetings will provide a forum for discussion and interaction between participants, University of Illinois researchers, and Extension educators.
Conference dates and locations are:
Jan. 22 DoubleTree by Hilton, Mount Vernon
Jan. 29 Brookens Auditorium at University of Illinois, Springfield
Feb.…
It happens every year.
A field is about to be harvested and something is awry. Perhaps the plants are lodged, ears are poorly filled, or pods shrunken. What happened to my crop?
From a plant disease perspective, it is nearly impossible to provide any useful information to the producer. Many pathogens that can cause crop diseases are also excellent saprophytes. That means they utilize dead or dying plant tissues for nourishment. Consequently, when plants prematurely senesce,…
Soon many producers will be starting to plant small grains. Below is my “Top six” list of important things to consider when planting wheat and other small grains in the coming weeks.
1) Ensure that you remove green bridges at least 10 days prior to planting. This season, prevent plant acres may have favored the development of grassy weeds and other potential hosts of aphids that transmit barley yellow dwarf (BYDV) virus in small grains. Aphids acquire BYDV upon feeding,…
Many in the agricultural community, as well as researchers annually rate corn for disease as a means to assess hybrid response, hybrid effectiveness, or potential disease level on field productivity. It can be difficult to rain the eye to accurately measure disease on foliage, and differences in the type and size of the structure or lesion associated with the pathogen varies significantly. The four links below will direct you to disease area diagrams we developed in order to help you obtain accurate disease severity estimates in your fields.…