cropCENTRAL | Field Crop Production Resources

Update on Soil Nitrogen

  • May 6, 2016

  • Emerson Nafziger

Corn planting has moved ahead of the 5-year average, with 66% of the Illinois crop planted by May 1. Early planting usually means an early start to nitrogen uptake. But N uptake is slow for a month or more after planting: in one study we did in 2015, plants at the 4-leaf stage about five weeks after planting had only 4 pounds of N per acre in the above-ground part of the plant. So there’s time both to get N applied to the crop before it needs it and also time for N in the soil to move out of the rooting zone if it’s in the nitrate form and the weather turns wet.…

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What is That Yellow-Flowered Plant?

  • May 5, 2016

  • Aaron Hager

The springtime color scheme provided by winter annual weed species in many no-till fields has shifted from the hearty purple of flowering henbit and purple deadnettle to the bright yellow flowers of two species.  Yellow rocket and cressleaf groundsel (a.k.a. butterweed) both produce bright yellow flowers and are common across much of the southern half of Illinois.  Although flower color is similar, the plants are distinct species.  Most of the yellow-flowered plants currently in fields is butterweed.…

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University of Illinois Weed Science Field Research Tour

  • May 4, 2016

  • Aaron Hager

We invite you to attend the 2016 University of Illinois Weed Science Field Day on Wednesday, June 29th 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.
Similar to past years, we will car pool to the fields where participants can join in a guided (but informal) tour format.…

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Marestail Control Prior to Planting

  • May 4, 2016

  • Aaron Hager

Marestail can be one of the most challenging weeds to control prior to planting no-till soybean.  Already this season some have reported poor marestail control following applications of glyphosate plus 2,4-D.  Poor control can be caused by several factors, including large plant size and resistance to glyphosate.  If a marestail population is resistant to glyphosate, a pint of 2,4-D in the spring is generally inconsistent/ineffective when it’s the only product in a tankmix active on the resistant population.…

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Black Cutworm Activity Increasing Across Illinois

  • April 27, 2016

  • Kelly Estes

*Edited April 28 to include significant flights and projected cutting dates for Carroll, Effingham, and Ford counties.
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.

For more complete information about the biology,…

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Stripe Rust Observed in Madison County Wheat

  • April 21, 2016

  • Aaron Hager

Retired commercial agriculture Extension educator Robert Bellm observed stripe rust yesterday in several wheat fields in Madison County (Figure).
Robert Bellm - Madison County 2016Figure. Stripe rust in winter wheat, Madison County, IL, April 20, 2016 (photo credit: Robert Bellm).
Rust pathogens are obligate parasites, meaning that they need a living host in order to survive. Wind and rain systems from further south bring spores to our area. This is why rust sightings in states to the South can help us in Illinois anticipate its arrival.…

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Planting Date: Corn or Soybean First?

  • April 19, 2016

  • Emerson Nafziger

Corn planting in Illinois has gotten into gear over the past week, with 12 percent of the state’s crop planted by April 17. That’s close to the planting pace of a year ago, and is behind the 5-year average only because that average includes 2012, when nearly half of the state’s corn crop was planted by mid-April. Illinois corn yield averaged 105 bushels per acre in 2012, while in 2014, the year with the record-high corn yield of 200 bushels,…

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Spring Nitrogen Management for Corn

  • April 18, 2016

  • Emerson Nafziger

Even though the price of nitrogen fertilizer has dropped some in the past year, the lower price of corn means that decisions about N management need to be made carefully, with an eye towards maximizing the return to this critically important input.
The return of dry weather over the past week and the forecast for the coming week has lessened the concern about N loss, though we still need to consider the possibility that some fall-applied anhydrous ammonia might have moved out of the upper part of the soil.…

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Is Fall-Applied Nitrogen Still Present?

  • April 8, 2016

  • Emerson Nafziger

The pattern of warmer and wetter than usual weather this past winter has changed some in the past two months, but hopes for a warm, dry, early spring have faded as well. Concerns remain about how much fall-applied N might have been lost and about whether and how this should change how we manage N this spring.
Most Illinois producers waited until soil temperatures had dropped to 50 degrees or less before applying anhydrous ammonia last fall.…

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Cover Crop Termination

  • March 18, 2016

  • Aaron Hager

The following information about cover crop termination is taken from the 2016 Weed Control Guide for Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.  The information was originally written by extension weed scientists at Purdue University.
Cover crops are unique in that most are planted primarily to reduce soil erosion and otherwise enhance soil quality, and are not harvested for their seed, fruit, or forage (although some are grazed or used as forage). Instead, cover crops are terminated before planting of summer annual grain crops such as soybeans and corn.…

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