cropCENTRAL | Field Crop Production Resources

Although April-May rainfall exceeded normal amounts in Illinois by up to 50 percent in some areas, and average temperatures have exceeded normal by several degrees, the weather record fails to capture what the 2024 planting season actually looked like. Planting in parts of the state was nearly complete by early May, while in other places, many acres remain to be planted going into June.
Planting began early, with 1 percent of both corn and soybeans planted in Illinois by the end of March.…

Emily Hansen – Commercial Agriculture Educator
LaSalle County
Soil Conditions: Near Normal
We have had intermittent showers over the past week, so there has been a lot of opportunity for farmers to finish planting.  The vast majority of fields in LaSalle County have been planted and have seedling emergence.  Corn is ranging in development from VE to V4. Soybeans are ranging from VE to V1.
 
Russ Higgins – Commercial Agriculture Educator
Grundy County
Soil Conditions: Mildly Wet (soil is wetter than normal,…

Kathryn Seebruck – Commercial Agriculture Educator
Ogle County
Soil Conditions: Mildly Wet (soil is wetter than normal, local vegetation is healthy)
Dry conditions the past few days have allowed many to catch up on planting, with most farmers in the area finished or close to finished. Corn is at about the V2-V3 stage, and soybeans are in the VC stage or still have yet to emerge. Some replants have occurred due to soil crusting.…

Emily Hansen – Commercial Agriculture Educator
LaSalle County
Soil Conditions: Mildly Wet (soil is wetter than normal, local vegetation is healthy)
Some growers were able to take advantage of the nice weather over the weekend and get out in the field. Most corn that was planted earlier is at VE-V1, and soybeans are at VE-VC. There is minimal standing water, but fields remain fairly wet.

Figure 1: Left: soy; Right: corn
 …

Black cutworms have been observed in traps across the state for the past couple of weeks. Several counties have reported significant moth flights (9 or more moths over a 2-night span). We can use the date of the significant flight to predict potential cutting dates based on degree day predictions.
Based on trap catches in late April and May, many counties in Illinois may start observing feeding, including cutting, as early as this week (Figure 1).…

 
Kathryn Seebruck – Commercial Agriculture Educator
Stephenson County
Soil Conditions: Moderately Wet (soil is damp, standing water may be present in low areas, water bodies are full)
Much like many areas of the state, northwest Illinois has received plenty of rainfall in the past couple of weeks, but there have still been enough dry days that have allowed for decent planting conditions. About 10-15% of fields in this area have visibly emerging corn,…

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April temperatures were warmer than normal in Illinois, making the January-April period one of the warmest on record. April was also wetter than normal, and as rains have continued into May, questions about nitrogen (N) losses continue to increase. This concern is greater for fall-applied N, but warm soil temperatures and wet soils have some people talking about the possible need for more N to replace what might have been lost so far.…

Spring moth trapping is one month in and we thank all of the volunteer cooperators for diligently sending in trap counts each week.
The stormy weather pattern continues to bring north lots of black cutworm moths. Several counties have had significant moth flights. We expect more over the coming weeks.
While black cutworm flights have been steady these past few weeks, the same cannot be said for true armyworm. Trap catches have been low across the state.…