We have posted some new materials (along with cool visual aids) on basics of integrated disease management. Hopefully this information will be useful to you during this busy meeting season. Click here to view this post.
Remember you can sign up for updates to the Illinois Field Crop Disease Hub
Dr. Nathan Kleczewski Extension Field Crop Pathologist UIUC…
With meeting season going full blast, you will be seeing a slew of data pertaining to disease management and the efficacy of various disease management products. We posted some general tips to keep in mind at the Illinois Field Crop Disease Hub that can be viewed HERE.
Remember that you can sign up for Hub updates (Hubdates?) by entering your email information on the main page.
Nathan Kleczewski- Field Crop Plant Pathologist and Extension Specialist-UIUC…
The 2019 edition of our annual report on applied research in field crop disease and insect management can be downloaded at the following link: https://uofi.box.com/v/2019PestPathogenARB
Each year, University of Illinois plant pathologists and entomologists produce a summary of the applied research we have conducted to inform disease and insect management practices in Illinois. This information provides a non-biased, third-party evaluation of control tactics such as pesticides and resistant varieties for use in corn,…
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.…
Snow has now fallen throughout much of Illinois, and temperatures have dropped going into the last weeks in 2019. With the recent Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy biennial report highlighting P and N levels in Illinois waterways, this is a good time to review the application of nutrients on frozen and/or snow-covered soils.
Last spring, after a short and often-muddy fall fertilizer season, a considerable amount of fertilizer—mostly P in the form of DAP or MAP and K as KCl—was applied during the first week of March when the soil surface was frozen.…
According to NASS, 20 percent—some 2 million acres—of the 2019 Illinois corn crop was still in the field on November 17. Following unprecedented delays in planting, the warm weather in September helped move the crop towards maturity, and frost did not come earlier than normal. So most of the corn in Illinois was at or close to maturity by mid-late October, but temperatures have been below to much-below normal over most of the past month, and this has delayed drydown of the crop.…
The Illinois Statewide Corn and Soybean Insect Survey has been occurred in eight of the last nine years (2011, 2013–2019). These surveys have been conducted with the goal of estimating densities of common insect pests in corn and soybean cropping systems. In 2019, 40 counties representing all nine crop reporting districts were surveyed, with five corn and five soybean fields surveyed in each county.
Within the soybean fields surveyed, 100 sweeps were performed on both the exterior of the field (outer 2 rows) and interior (at least 12 rows beyond the field edge) using a 38-cm diameter sweep net.…
Last year we started a project focusing on determining origins of Phyllachora maydis, the causal agent of tar spot of corn, in the United States. As part of this project, we need to collect Phyllachora species from different hosts and areas. Today I went for a lunchtime walk and was able to find Phyllachora spp. on four different grass hosts. Note the large, somewhat raised stroma that follow the veins on most occasions. …
On October 17, 2019, the UI College ACES put out a news release that described an effort to gather yields from a lot of Illinois corn and soybean fields in 2019. We’re doing this because of the unique opportunity we have to try to get a handle on how planting date affected yields in 2019, so we know better what to expect if and when planting is this late again.
Although late planting is nothing new in Illinois,…
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,…