cropCENTRAL | Field Crop Production Resources

Illinois Crops Update 5/13/2022

  • May 13, 2022

Welcome to the first weekly crops update from Illinois Extension. Each week, I put out a request to crops educators and specialists from University of Illinois to compile an update to share with the entire state. We hope you find this information useful, and if you have any questions or suggestions about the format, please email me (harbach2@illinois.edu).
Emerson Nafziger, agronomy specialist and professor emeritus Dept. of Crop Sciences
While we welcome the warm weather that has dried fields and enabled a lot of planting this week,…

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On the Watch for Soil Crusting

  • May 6, 2022

Corn and soybean planting progress has been slow so far in Illinois, with 7 percent of the corn crop and 5 percent of the soybean crop planted by May 1. These numbers should increase modestly by May 8, but this will not be an early-planting year. With warm temperatures returning next week, planting progress should accelerate.
Soil temperatures at the 2-inch depth over the last ten days ranged from around 60 in southern Illinois to 55 in central Illinois to 50 in northern Illinois.…

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Spring Nitrogen Management

  • March 28, 2022

High fertilizer nitrogen prices are providing an incentive to manage N this spring with as much efficiency as possible. We’ll consider here some ways to work towards that.
Nitrogen rate: Higher corn prices are helping to counter the effect of higher N prices on N rate: if N and corn sale prices hold at current levels, MRTN rates for corn following soybean are 154 lb/acre in northern IL, 167 in central IL, and 185 in southern Illinois.…

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Is That Enough Nitrogen?

  • March 17, 2022

While N fertilizer prices remain high, at around $0.90 per lb of N as anhydrous ammonia and in the vicinity of $1.00 per lb of N as UAN or urea, recent increases in the price of corn have produced moderately higher MRTN N rates from the N rate calculator. As an example, with N at $1.00 per lb and corn at $7.00 per bushel, the MRTN rate for corn following soybean in central Illinois is 167 lb N per acre,…

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Spring Moth Trapping Set to Begin April 1

  • March 2, 2022

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,

…

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2021 Applied Research Report Now Available

  • February 2, 2022

Each year, we produce a report of our applied research efforts related to insect and disease management in field crops. New for this year, we’ve created a landing page at https://extension.illinois.edu/global/field-crop-insect-and-disease-applied-research, where you can view this year’s report along previous versions (2018-2020). The 2021 report includes several highlights, such as:

  • Western and northern corn rootworm Bt resistance monitoring, as well as trait performance in field experiments
  • New surveys of dectes stem borer stem tunneling and corn rootworm sticky traps,

…

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2022 Weed Control Guide Now Available

  • January 10, 2022

The 2022 Weed Control Guide for Ohio, Indiana and Illinois contains 232 pages of weed management information, including weed response ratings for corn and soybean herbicides.  Information and recommendations for managing weeds in small grains and forages are included, along with specific information about, and control recommendations for, several problem weed species.  The 2022 Weed Control Guide is available in pdf or print format and can be ordered at: https://extensionpubs.osu.edu/2022-weed-control-guide-for-ohio-indiana-and-illinois/
…

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Fall Field Work Following a Wet October

  • November 2, 2021

As of October 31, 81% of the 2021 Illinois corn crop and 75% of the soybean crop had been harvested. That’s close to the 5-year average for corn, but 11 percentage points less than the average for soybeans. While harvest started early and with low grain moisture, much of Illinois, with the exception of the southern third of the state, received 6 to 10 inches of rainfall (2 to 6 inches above normal) in the last three weeks of October.…

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Notes as Fall Harvest Continues

  • October 20, 2021

After an early start to fall harvest in 2021, widespread rainfall over most of Illinois in the second week of October slowed harvest progress; by October 17, 62% of the corn crop and 51% of the soybean crop were harvested, compared to 5-year averages of 59 and 62% for the two crops, respectively. With rainfall totals of 2-3 inches over most of northern and central Illinois, many fields remain wet as harvest activities resume this week.…

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Fertilizer Decisions, Fall 2021

  • October 6, 2021

With warm and dry weather prevailing over the past month, harvest of the corn and soybean crops has proceeded at a brisk pace in Illinois. By October 1, 41% of the corn crop and 32% of the soybean crop had been harvested; both were ahead of the average over the past five years.
Early harvest as dry conditions continue gets many producers and dealers thinking about fall fertilizer. This has taken on a greater urgency in 2021 due to large increases in fertilizer prices over the past year,…

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