cropCENTRAL | Field Crop Production Resources

Let us know if you see these diseases in Illinois!

  • August 8, 2019

There are two, fairly new and / or important diseases  to keep an eye out for in 2019.  We are actively seeking samples of symptomatic plants for research to help us understand the biology, ecology, and management of these pathogens.  If you have a suspect sample, please send to the UIUC plant diagnostic clinic for confirmation (cost will be covered), and or contact me via email, telephone, or twitter.
 
The first is a disease that we started working on in late 2017- Tar spot on corn. …

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2019 Observations from the Field: Dicamba

  • August 2, 2019

Approximately two weeks ago, only a few (11 reported as of July 16) dicamba-related complaints had been filed with the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA), and some held aspirations that the magnitude of off-target issues would be less this year than during the two previous seasons.  Today, it appears those hopeful aspirations are being replaced by the harsh reality that the magnitude of off-target issues in 2019 might be either similar to or possibly exceed those of previous seasons. …

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Corn and soybean crops at mid-season, 2019

  • July 19, 2019

The 2019 Illinois corn crop reached 50% planted during the first week of June, more than a month later than the average of the past five years. The soybean crop reached 50% planted a few days later than corn, and more than three weeks later than the average of the past five years. May rainfall was above normal over most of Illinois, and June brought near-normal rainfall over much of the state. Still, the late planting coupled with too much or too little rainfall after planting produced July crop condition ratings of only about 40% good + excellent for both crops,…

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Southern rust in Illinois- it’s complicated

  • July 18, 2019

This week we started picking up Southern rust in the southern Illinois.  Thusfar, reports indicate that disease severity is low.  However, the recent hurricane remnant and warm forecasts may mean that we may see the disease progress somewhat in the coming days and weeks.
When people in Illinois hear the words southern rust, it brings back memories of a few years ago when the disease moved in and environmental conditions favored disease development for a prolonged period of time. …

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New maps for tracking Southern rust in corn (repaired link)

  • July 14, 2019

Southern rust is caused by a fungal pathogen that does not overwinter in Illinois.  Instead, it blows in from warmer regions during the growing season.  When conditions favor spread and development of this disease significant damage can occur, especially if it arrives before tasseling (VT).  For more information on Southern rust, check out the Crop Protection Network publication by clicking here.  Yesterday our colleagues detected this disease in Southeast Missouri.  With the hurricane/tropical storm remnant pushing northward,…

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Avoid the cosmic freakout

  • July 13, 2019

Today colleagues in Indiana reported tar spot presence in some of their research plots located in North West IN.  They found an extremely low number of stroma (less than 10) when assessing approximately 500 feet of plots.  When you see or read about the report keep a few things to keep in mind:
1) The amount detected was exceptionally low, and not close to the widespread severity we saw early last year.  For example, on  July 5th,…

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Japanese Beetle Management Guidelines

  • July 10, 2019

Japanese beetles (Fig. 1) have been arriving throughout Illinois over the last couple of weeks, and are becoming pretty conspicuous in some areas. Our crops are well behind their usual progress when Japanese beetle emergence occurs, which could impact scouting and management decision making. Several of my colleagues recently wrote an in-depth article on the history, distribution and management of this pest1; you can read the full open-access article here. Some notes on management follow by crop:
Corn: Silk clipping is the primary concern with Japanese beetle infestations in corn.…

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RSVP for the Champaign Pest and Pathogen Field Day!

  • July 5, 2019

Come to Champaign, Illinois on July 22nd for the first annual field crop Pest and Pathogen Field Day from 9am-noon.  Registration, doughnuts, and coffee will start at 8:30 am. Parking for the event will be available at the Agricultural and Biological Engineering farm on the UIUC South Farm Facility, located at 3603 South Race Street, Urbana, IL, 61802.  Click HERE to register.
Join us to walk research plots and learn about insect and disease identification in field crops,…

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Cover crops on prevented-planting acres: an update

  • July 3, 2019

There have been a number of developments since my June 17 article on managing prevented-planting (PP) fields. A major change was the granting of permission to harvest cover crops planted on PP acres after September 1, instead of November 1. In addition, harvesting after September 1 can now be done with a forage harvester—as silage—rather than only by grazing or making hay.
In simple terms that means that cover crops on PP acres can be managed as forage crops,…

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