cropCENTRAL | Field Crop Production Resources

Southern rust of corn observed in Illinois

  • August 14, 2013

  • Aaron Hager

Southern rust of corn has now been observed in different areas of Illinois.  Southern rust is one of two different rust diseases of corn that can be observed in the state (the other is known as common rust).  Because nearly every corn hybrid grown is susceptible to southern rust, yield reductions can occur if infection takes place early enough in the season.  Late-planted corn fields are at the highest risk for yield losses associated with southern rust and should be scouted for the presence of this disease. …

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Soybean Aphid Activity Picks Up in Northern Illinois

  • August 12, 2013

  • Michael Gray

On the morning of August 12, Russ Higgins, University of Illinois Extension Commercial Agriculture Educator, Northern Illinois Agronomy Research Center, sampled soybean fields in DeKalb, Grundy, Kendall, and LaSalle counties. In four of seven commercial soybean fields, he detected soybean aphids in low numbers. Typically, Russ found one to two aphids per leaf. He also noted that beneficial insects were abundant within the soybean fields.
The economic threshold for soybean aphids remains at 250 aphids per plant with 80% of plants infested. …

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Will The Corn and Soybean Crops Get Finished?

  • August 8, 2013

  • Emerson Nafziger

Late planting and weather that continues to be cooler than normal into August has many wondering if the corn and soybean crops will reach maturity and harvest moisture within a reasonable time this fall. Crop conditions remain good for both crops, but crop development, including pod formation and filling in soybean and grain fill in corn, remains well behind normal. Corn is 10 days to 2 weeks behind normal, and soybeans are 2 to 3 weeks behind normal.…

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Palmer amaranth: what should you do if you find it in your fields?

  • August 6, 2013

  • Aaron Hager

Recently, we have identified populations of Palmer amaranth in several Illinois counties.  The density of many populations is relatively low, and often these plants occur only in small patches.  However, a few scattered plants this year can lead to severe infestations within only a few years.
We continue to accept tissue samples from suspected Palmer amaranth plants and use tools of molecular biology to identify whether the sample is Palmer amaranth or another species of Amaranthus. …

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Check Corn Pollination

  • August 2, 2013

  • Emerson Nafziger

We are starting to get reports that corn pollination might not have been as successful as expected in parts of Illinois. While the weather was generally favorable during the peak period of pollination, it was warm during the third week of July, and soil water may have been limiting during this period in some fields. Thus we would expect to see this in the areas with low rainfall in July.
This is not the lack of silking that we saw in many areas under the drought of 2012.…

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Assessing the risk of white mold (Sclerotinia stem rot) of soybean in 2013

  • July 22, 2013

  • Aaron Hager

White mold of soybean (a.k.a. Sclerotinia stem rot), caused by the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, is a disease that can occur in the northern half of the state in cool, wet years.  The most recent white mold epidemic in Illinois occurred during the 2009 season, where several fields in the northern half of the state were affected.
The white mold fungus overwinters in the soil as, small, black, and dense structures known as sclerotia. …

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Corn and Soybean Crops at Mid-Season

  • July 20, 2013

  • Emerson Nafziger

The third week of July brought above-normal temperatures to much of Illinois. This is expected to be temporary, with temperatures the fourth week expected to return to normal. Because soils in most areas had enough water to carry the crop through the week, we don’t think the high daytime temperatures were much cause for concern.
By July 14, 21 percent of the Illinois corn crop was pollinating. This included most fields planted before May 10 to 15.…

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Brownstown Agronomy Research Center Field Day – July 25

  • July 15, 2013

  • Aaron Hager

The 2013 Brownstown Agronomy Research Center Field Day, presented by the University Of Illinois Department Of Crop Sciences, will be held on Thursday, July 25. Extension researchers and specialists will address issues pertinent to the current growing season. Tours will start at 8 a.m., with the second and third groups leaving the headquarters around 8:20 a.m. and 8:40 a.m. The tours will last about two and a half hours and will be followed by lunch provided by U of I Extension.…

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Corn Rootworm Larval Injury and Adult Emergence Lagging this Season

  • July 11, 2013

  • Michael Gray

Although western corn rootworm adult emergence is underway across many central Illinois counties, a quick poll of participants at the DeKalb Research and Education Center field day near Shabbona, Illinois on July 10 revealed that participants have not observed any beetles moving about their cornfields. Joe Spencer, an entomologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, observed larvae continuing their root feeding activity in his research plots north of Urbana on July 9. Based upon these observations,…

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