cropCENTRAL | Field Crop Production Resources

Managing Prevented-Planting Fields

  • June 17, 2019

  • Emerson Nafziger

With a lot of acres of corn and soybeans still unplanted as we move into the second half of June, prevented planting (PP) is unfortunately going to be a major part of the story of the 2019 cropping season in Illinois. Here we’ll look at goals and options for managing acres on which the intended crop—corn or soybean—does not get planted.
The main goals of managing PP acres will be: 1) providing a vegetative cover in order to keep the soil in place and to prevent “fallow syndrome”;…

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Fungicide efficacy for foliar corn and soybean diseases

  • June 14, 2019

  • Nathan Kleczewski

Each year our team of plant pathologists collaborate to develop efficacy tables for fungicides that can be used to help manage fungal diseases in field crops.   Our most recent sheets can be found by clicking the following links:
CDWG Fungicide efficacy table_2019_final
Soybean Fungicide efficacy table_2019_final
These sheets will eventually be housed for download on the Illinois field Crop Disease Page along with factsheets, applied research data and guides,  scouting videos,…

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IDOA EXTENDS APPLICATION DATE TO APPLY DICAMBA

  • June 14, 2019

  • Aaron Hager

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) announced today it will extend the application date the herbicide dicamba can be applied on soybeans in Illinois for the 2019 growing season until July 15. In February, the Department approved state-specific labels allowing for dicamba use on soybeans only until June 30.  Dicamba is primarily used on soybeans to control post-emergence broadleaf weeds.
“Due to the extraordinary wet weather seen in this state during the spring planting season and with still over 50% of the soybean crop to be planted,…

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Holcus spot in Illinois Corn

  • June 12, 2019

  • Chelsea Harbach

The following is posted on behalf of Dr. Nathan Kleczewski, Field Crops Pathologist for Growmark. This content is from the Field Crop Disease Hub webpage Dr. Kleczewski curated. 
This week, growers and ag professionals have noticed round tan-colored lesions with red margins and yellow halos on Illinois corn. These symptoms likely were a minor disease called Holcus spot. Holcus spot is a bacterial disease of corn that can occur on young corn and is rarely damaging.…

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Scouting for Early Season Pests in Corn and Soybean After a Late Start

  • June 7, 2019

  • Nick Seiter

It goes without saying that this spring has been a challenge. With extreme planting delays throughout the state, crop development is well behind normal expectations, while insect pest populations have continued to progress. In addition, the tight schedule we have faced has forced planting into less than ideal conditions in terms of both soil moisture and weed control, which can have consequences for insect pest management. There are a few pests in particular to target during early season scouting this season:
 …

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Rain, late planting, and nitrogen

  • June 5, 2019

  • Emerson Nafziger

One of the most pressing questions as planting continues into June after a very wet May is whether or not the high rainfall amounts over the past month have affected the amount of nitrogen fertilizer needed for the corn crop this year. This is a complicated question, related both to concern about how much early-applied N might be lost and to decreased yield potential from late planting that might lower the need for N. The recent price increase in corn also provides an incentive to make sure the crop gets enough N.…

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University of Illinois Weed Science Field Research Tour

  • June 5, 2019

  • Aaron Hager

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,…

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Dealing with very late planting

  • May 31, 2019

  • Emerson Nafziger

Despite the fact that the “active” weather pattern gave no signs of changing over the past month, few of us thought we’d see so little planting progress by now. But here we are, with only 35% of the Illinois corn crop and 14% of the soybean crop planted by May 26. With more rain this week, we will have less than half the corn and less than a fourth of the soybeans planted before June 1 in Illinois.…

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Weed Management on Prevented Planting Acres

  • May 29, 2019

  • Aaron Hager

Persistent wet field conditions have increased the likelihood that many farmers will opt to take the prevented planting option through their crop insurance policy.  Even though no crop will be planted, weed control practices still should be implemented to reduce seed production from summer annual weed species.  Any weed seed produced in 2019 will add to future weed control costs.  The old weed science adage “One year’s seedling equals seven years weeding” reinforces the need to adequately manage weeds on prevented planting acres.…

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