The latest report from NASS indicates that 96 percent of the corn and 62 percent of the soybean crop in Illinois had been planted as of June 9. Some of the corn is struggling, however, with 13 percent of the crop rated as poor or very poor. Much of this is due to heavy rainfall, which has caused problems with stands, including areas in fields where the crop has drowned out from standing water. In other cases,…
The dates and locations for the 2014 University of Illinois Corn & Soybean Classics are set for next January. Our next series of meetings marks the 17th year of the Classics and will continue the program’s tradition of providing our clientele with the most current and timely information related to crop production, marketing and pest management.
The dates and meeting locations for the 2014 Corn & Soybean Classics are:
▸ January 6 (Monday): Champaign I Hotel and Conference Center
▸ January 7 (Tuesday): Mt.…
Head scab of wheat (a.k.a. Fusarium head blight) is showing up in Illinois wheat fields. Incidence is ranging from low (less than 10% of the heads affected) to moderately high (over 25% 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,…
Entomologists (Christian Krupke, John Obermeyer, and Larry Bledsoe) at Purdue University have confirmed that the annual larval hatch of western corn rootworms is underway. They found the first corn rootworm larva on June 6 and believe that hatch was initiated on June 4. This event was a little later than heat-unit totals predicted. I suspect that the drought of 2012 forced much deeper egg laying in the soil contributing to the slightly later hatch this spring.…
On May 15-19, 2013, Drs. David Voegtlin (retired entomologist, Illinois Natural History Survey) and Dave Hogg (Professor, University of Wisconsin, Madison), surveyed the overwintering hosts of soybean aphids — the common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) and glossy buckthorn (Frangula alnus). Their 2,000 + mile survey of these primary hosts took them across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. A synopsis of their observations by state are provided below.…
Wheat producers, especially in southwestern Illinois, should be scouting their fields for armyworms and considering the need to apply a rescue treatment. Kevin Black, Insect and Plant Disease Technical Manager, Growmark, Inc., reported on June 7 that large numbers of armyworms were leaving roadside ditches, moving into adjacent wheat fields, and inflicting heavy damage. Armyworm densities and damage in one wheat field located northeast of St. Louis was particularly impressive. Because of the heavy rains this spring and the lack of mowing,…
Deciding on whether or not to replant can be a difficult decision. Cutworm, compaction and seedling blight are some of the problems that can lead to reduced plant populations. The sight of an uneven reduced stand is often more than many farmers can take, but the desire to “fix-it” may not make sense agronomically or economically.
For fields where the stand has been relatively evenly thinned out the following advice is most relevant.…
On June 5, I sampled an alfalfa field in Champaign County and found potato leafhoppers by using a sweep net. These small insects have the potential to cause injury to subsequent cuttings of alfalfa. Typically, the first cutting across much of Illinois is not at economic risk to this migratory pest. Producers are encouraged to scout their fields for potato leafhoppers and recognize that very low densities of these insects equipped with piercing and sucking mouthparts can cause economic losses to alfalfa soon after the first cutting.…
Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri) is a summer annual broadleaf weed species taxonomically related to other pigweed species (waterhemp, smooth, redroot) common in Illinois agronomic cropping systems. Palmer amaranth is not indigenous to Illinois, but rather evolved as a desert-dwelling species in the southwestern United States including areas of the Sonoran Desert. Genotypic and phenotypic adaptability have allowed Palmer amaranth to expand its distribution and colonize the vastly different agricultural landscapes across much of the eastern half of the United States,…
The past several days have experienced a noticeable increase in questions about options to control marestail after crop emergence. Many have reported poor marestail control from herbicides applied prior to planting (primarily no-till soybean), especially when these burndown applications contained only glyphosate or glyphosate and 2,4-D. The increasing frequency of glyphosate-resistant marestail populations, the rush to plant whenever field conditions were conducive, and the less-than-ideal environmental conditions when many burndown applications were made, have contributed to a challenging situation for which a good solution might not be available. …