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,…
What diseases are we seeing in Illinois field crops? Check out our new article by clicking here…
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.…
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,…
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,…
The weed science program at the University of Illinois invites all weed management practitioners to our annual weed science field tour on Wednesday, July 10. Please note the tour will begin at our off-campus field location (“The Lost Forty”) which is located on Cottonwood Road (County road 1700 east) approximately one-quarter mile north of County road 1850 North (see map).
Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. and refreshments (coffee, juice, and doughnuts) will be available. Preregistration is not required,…
Nearly all herbicide labels (soil-applied or postemergence) have rotational crop intervals that specify the amount of time that must elapse between herbicide application and planting a rotational crop. This becomes particularly important with late-season herbicide applications. These intervals are established to reduce the likelihood that herbicide residues will persist in sufficient quantities to adversely affect the rotational crop. Some herbicide rotational restrictions are based solely on time, while other factors, such as soil pH and the amount of precipitation received after herbicide application,…
As a reminder, dicamba-resistant soybean fields that exist in counties that might harbor endangered terrestrial dicot plant species and that will be treated with dicamba must have an in-field, 57-foot omnidirectional buffer. The new 57-foot buffer will occur on three sides of the field and be in addition to the required 110-foot downwind buffer. Non-sensitive areas, as defined in the renewed labels, can be included in the omnidirectional buffer calculation. This new buffer requirement includes fields in at least 27 Illinois counties (Figure 1).…
Over the past week there has not been much activity as far as corn disease is concerned. The only exception has been the detection of very light common rust infections on some corn in the north central and southern parts of the state. Although the occurrence of common rust on corn this early in development may be a concern to some, there are a few things that you should keep in mind.
1) Common rust, caused by Puccinia sorghi,…
MONMOUTH, Ill. – The Northwestern Illinois Agricultural Research and Demonstration Center will host a Field Day on Wednesday, July 17. Join University of Illinois Department of Crop Sciences faculty, researchers, students, and Extension specialists as they address issues pertinent to the 2019 growing season.
The program will begin promptly on Wednesday, July 17 at 8:00 a.m. and is open to the public at no cost. Refreshments and BBQ sandwiches will be available at the end of the tour.…