The welcome return to Illinois of drier and warmer weather has allowed most of the remaining crops to be planted, and has brought a lot of improvement to the corn crop that struggled through cool, wet weather during the first and third weeks of May. The plants in many fields have gotten back their green color (or have gotten it for the first time) and the early-planted crop is about to enter the period of rapid growth.…
The 2017 Illinois corn crop currently is at various stages of development. Applications of postemergence corn herbicides continue to be made across areas of Illinois, although the recent precipitation has delayed applications in some areas. Even though applications may be delayed, adequate soil moisture coupled with warm temperatures will certainly promote rapid growth of emerged weeds.
Properly timing the application of the postemergence herbicide is critical toward achieving the goal of removing weed interference from the corn crop before the weeds adversely impact (i.e.,…
The heavy rains of late April and early May have paused and the weather has warmed enough to allow corn and soybean planting (or replanting) to resume in Illinois, except in the low spots in some places.
With a lot of nitrogen fertilizer applied early, and with rainfall totaling 5 inches or more over most of the state in the two weeks before May 10, many people are worried about N loss and the possible need to apply more nitrogen than planned.…
Following the recent and excessive precipitation, some corn replanting likely will occur when soil conditions are conducive. We hope that replanting occurs only in small areas of a given field, but in some situations entire fields may have to be replanted. While there are many agronomic considerations associated with replanting, some weed control/herbicide issues also should be considered.
Herbicide-resistance traits in the replanted hybrids should be taken into account. For example, if you initially planted a glyphosate-resistant corn hybrid and have areas that need to be replanted,…
Very little corn or soybean planting took place in Illinois over the past week, and while planting progress is not far behind average for the end of the first week of May, crop development is starting to lag as temperatures remain cool. Crop emergence has been slow, with only less than half of the corn crop that was planted by the end of April emerged by May 7.
One of the most visible consequences of the cool weather has been the poor corn crop color of recent days.…
The weed science program at the University of Illinois invites all weed management practitioners to our annual weed science field tour, which will be held on Wednesday, June 28 at the Crop Sciences Research and Education Center (a.k.a. South Farm), located south of campus on Wright Street extended. Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. and refreshments (coffee, juice, and doughnuts) will be available. Preregistration is not required, but please let us know in advance if you will be bringing a large group of participants so we can plan accordingly for meals.…
Impressive moth flights have not only kept the Illinois insect monitoring network cooperators busy, but neighboring states are reporting lots of black cutworm and true armyworm moth activity as well. The current forecast and planting progress has raised questions about the potential for these pests in the coming weeks.
With the assistance of University of Illinois Extension educators, producers and industry volunteers, nearly 60 trap sites have been established across Illinois. Captures of both black cutworm and true armyworm have been common across the state.…
April has been a little warmer and drier than average so far this year, which has allowed a good start to corn planting and some progress in soybean planting. This is expected to change, with above-normal rainfall and below-normal temperatures over the next 10 days or so, through the first week of May.
It rained on Easter Sunday most places in Illinois, which according to the old saying means that it should rain on each of the seven Sundays after Easter.…
Decades ago it was very common for the majority of corn and soybean acres in Illinois to be treated with one or more soil-residual herbicides before crop/weed emergence. During the 1980s, commercialization of broad-spectrum, postemergence herbicides began the shift away from widespread use of soil-residual herbicides; products such as Basagran, Classic, Accent and Pursuit contributed to the early adoption of postemergence weed control programs. The era of total postemergence weed control reached its zenith following the widespread adoption of glyphosate-resistant crops and the concomitant use of glyphosate. …
Most corn producers have made plans on how to supply the 2017 Illinois corn crop with nitrogen. But with the stakes high, unusually early N application this past winter and early spring, the delay in fieldwork due to rainfall over the past week, and ongoing pressure to “get nitrogen right,” some might be rethinking plans as the season gets underway.
I presented a webinar on the topic of spring N management on March 30, 2017; the link to the recording can be found at https://ifca.com/.…