cropCENTRAL | Field Crop Production Resources

Japanese Beetles and Silk Clipping: New Research on an Old Foe

  • June 27, 2014

On June 18, Robert Bellm, Commercial Agriculture Educator, observed Japanese beetles in Madison County, Illinois. Overall this season, I’ve received very few reports regarding this insect. With corn now rapidly growing into the late-whorl stage in many areas of the state, attention will soon begin to focus on protecting the pollination process from insect injury (silk clipping). Recently, some research was published concerning the effect that silk clipping by Japanese beetles had on the yield of corn.…

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Western Corn Rootworm Adult Emergence Underway in East Central Illinois

  • June 27, 2014

Joe Spencer, Associate Research Professor, Illinois Natural History Survey, indicates that his research crew observed a male western corn rootworm adult in his plots northeast of Urbana on June 26. Males generally emerge before the females. Earlier today (June 27), Joe and his students found five western corn rootworm adults in refuge corn. It took them about 1 1/2 hours to find these beetles, so, emergence is just underway. In addition, Joe has found significant root injury on several of the refuge plants.…

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Screening Waterhemp for Herbicide Resistance

  • June 24, 2014

Herbicide-resistant waterhemp populations continue to expand into more areas of Illinois each season.  Waterhemp has evolved resistance to herbicides encompassing more mechanisms of action than any other Illinois weed species, including resistance to inhibitors of acetolactate synthase (ALS), photosystem II (PSII), protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO), enolpyruvyl shikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) and hydroxyphenyl pyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD).  Not every individual waterhemp plant is resistant to one or more herbicides, but the majority of field-level waterhemp populations contain one or more types of herbicide resistance. …

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Call for Grain Samples

  • June 20, 2014

There is some evidence that the “book values” that we have used for many years to calculate the amount of P and K removed by grain during harvest may no longer be accurate for the crops we produce today. The economic and environmental advantages of matching crop removal to replacement with fertilizer nutrients makes it important to have good removal numbers.
With funding from the Nutrient Research & Education Council (NREC) we are starting a new project in 2014 to try to get a better idea for how much nitrogen (N),…

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Reminder…University of Illinois Weed Science Field Research Tour

  • June 19, 2014

We would like to take this opportunity to once again extend the invitation to attend the 2014 University of Illinois Weed Science Field Day, to be held next Wednesday, June 25th at the University of Illinois Crop Sciences Research and Education Center, located immediately south of the main campus.  Coffee and refreshments will be available under the shade trees near the Seed House beginning at 8:00 a.m.  The tour will provide ample opportunity to look at research plots and interact with weed science faculty,…

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Northern Illinois Agronomy Research Center Agronomy Day, July 10th

  • June 16, 2014

The Northern Illinois Agronomy Research Center will be hosting its summer Agronomy Day on Thursday, July 10 in Shabbona. Join University of Illinois Extension specialists and researchers as they address issues pertinent to the 2014 crop growing season.
The program begins at 9:00 a.m. and will finish with a noon meal provided at no cost. It is open to all who wish to attend and there is no registration fee. Certified crop adviser continuing educational units will be available.…

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Wheat scab rearing its ugly “head” again in 2014

  • June 16, 2014

Head scab of wheat (a.k.a. Fusarium head blight) is showing up in the southern portion of Illinois.  In many cases, incidence is moderate to high (over 50% of the heads affected).  Affected wheat heads will appear “bleached” in color.  Heads often are partially affected, with both healthy green and affected bleached areas being present in the same head.  Although I have not been in all wheat production areas in the state, my general observations are that fields in southern Illinois (south of Interstate 70) range from a moderate to high incidence of scab. …

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University of Illinois to Offer Assistance Identifying Palmer Amaranth

  • June 16, 2014

Accurate identification of weedy Amaranthus species during early vegetative stages sometimes can be difficult.  Differentiating between smooth pigweed and waterhemp is relatively easy since one species (smooth pigweed) has pubescence on the stem and leaves while the other does not.   However, differentiating between waterhemp and Palmer amaranth during early vegetative stages can be much more difficult.  To assist weed management practitioners in accurately identifying Palmer amaranth, we will accept tissue samples from suspected Palmer amaranth plants and use tools of molecular biology to identify whether the plant is Palmer amaranth or another species of Amaranthus. …

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Nitrogen in Late Spring 2014

  • June 13, 2014

The corn crop in Illinois is off to a good start in many fields, and in most areas is in the V5 to V8 growth stages, just starting its rapid growth phase. On average, the crop under good conditions will add some 200 lb of dry matter per acre per day over the next 80 days or so. It will take up 3-4 lb per day of nitrogen before pollination, after which the N uptake rate will slow.…

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Low Numbers of Soybean Aphids Found in Spring Survey

  • June 6, 2014

Once again, Drs. Dave Voegtlin (retired entomologist, Illinois Natural History Survey) and Dave Hogg (Professor of Entomology, University of Wisconsin) conducted their annual spring survey of soybean aphids. From May 12-17, they looked for soybean aphids on the primary host — common buckthorn, Rhamnus cathartica. At some sampling locations, they also examined the glossy buckthorn, Frangula alnus. The overall assessment by these entomologists — there were fewer soybean aphids this spring as compared with the previous 2 years.…

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