Crop Production

A New Way to Look at Soybean Management

  • February 23, 2016

  • Emerson Nafziger

The University of Illinois is part of a large, multi-state research project funded by the North Central Soybean Research Program (funded by state checkoff programs) to look at effects of weather, soils, and management on soybean yields.
As part of this project, we need to gather basic information on at least 500 soybeans fields around Illinois for each of the crop years 2014 through 2017. These data will go into a large database that will be used to take a look at how management affects yields in a given soil type and with a certain weather pattern.…

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Ewing Demonstration Center Fall Field Day – September 10th

  • August 28, 2015

  • Nathan Johanning

The University of Illinois Extension will host its annual Ewing Demonstration Center Fall Field Day on Thursday, September 10, 2015 at 9:00 a.m.  The Ewing Demonstration Center is located in southern Illinois about 20 miles south of Mt. Vernon at 16132 N. Ewing Rd; Ewing, IL 62836.  It is on the north edge of the village of Ewing, north of the Ewing Grade School on north Ewing Road.  Watch for signs.
The ongoing research this year includes trials on soybean cover crops,…

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Brownstown Agronomy Research Center Field Day – August 5, 2015

  • July 27, 2015

  • Aaron Hager

The 2015 Brownstown Agronomy Research Center Field Day, presented by the University Of Illinois Department Of Crop Sciences, will be held on Wednesday, August 5. Extension researchers and specialists will address issues pertinent to the current growing season. The tour will start at 8 a.m. and will last approximately three hours. It will be followed by lunch provided by U of I Extension. 2.5 hours of Certified Crop Adviser CEUs have been approved.
Shaded tour wagons will take participants to each stop.…

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Corn disease update and farewell

  • June 30, 2015

  • Aaron Hager

Last week, I visited all of the University of Illinois corn variety trials in the northern half of the state.  Gray leaf spot and northern leaf blight were beginning to appear in most of the locations, but were the most obvious at the trial located near Perry, IL (Pike County).
With the amount of rainfall received in the past few weeks, it is not surprising that these diseases were beginning to appear.  Since hybrids differ in their level of susceptibility to these diseases,…

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Corn and Nitrogen as Rains Continue

  • June 19, 2015

  • Emerson Nafziger

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,…

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Tracking Soil Nitrogen – Does Corn Have Enough N?

  • May 30, 2015

  • Emerson Nafziger

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.…

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2015 Field Day Events in Illinois

  • May 19, 2015

  • Emerson Nafziger

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 –…

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Stripe rust and Fusarium head blight (scab) concerns in Illinois

  • May 14, 2015

  • Aaron Hager

Stripe rust of wheat has been observed in different parts of Illinois within the last week. Although some varieties have very good resistance to stripe rust, there are still several varieties that are susceptible. Stripe rust is able to flourish under the cooler temperatures we’ve had over the last few days. With rain in the forecast in parts of the state over the next few days, favorable conditions for this disease likely will continue.
Although some wheat fields in the state are already past the critical period for applying a fungicide for protection against Fusarium head blight (a.k.a.…

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Wheat disease outlook

  • April 28, 2015

  • Aaron Hager

As the weather begins to warm up, wheat is beginning to grow at a faster pace.  Symptoms of some diseases also are beginning to appear or will likely be appearing soon.  Below are some diseases to look for right now.
Stagonospora and Septoria leaf blotch: Although caused by two different pathogens, symptoms of these two foliar diseases look very similar and both can be managed with an appropriate foliar fungicide application.  Most results from University of Illinois wheat foliar fungicide trials conducted since 2008 have shown that an application of an effective fungicide for control of Fusarium head blight (scab) when wheat is beginning to flower also provides good protection against common foliar fungal diseases on the flag leaf. …

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