cropCENTRAL | Field Crop Production Resources

Weed scientists at the University of Illinois and Southern Illinois University Carbondale recently announced the confirmation of glufosinate resistance in Illinois waterhemp populations. Glufosinate is a non-selective herbicide most commonly applied postemergence in Illinois corn and soybean crops engineered with resistance to the herbicide. Use of glufosinate has increased over the past decade as the efficacy of other postemergence herbicides against waterhemp has been compromised through the evolution of resistance. This confirmation marks the first time that herbicides from all site-of-action groups previously effective for postemergence control of Illinois waterhemp have instances of resistance;…

Happy new year! For the first summary of 2026, we’ll take a quick look back at December and the weather year of 2025, and then look forward to the rest of winter and a bit of spring.
December was around 2.5 degrees colder than normal statewide, which was quite a contrast to a very warm fall season. However, the average temperature in December doesn’t tell the story of its huge temperature swings. Much of the state had temperatures that were 20 to 30 degrees below normal in the middle of the month,…

If you have found yourself dealing with alfalfa weevil more often in the last few years, you are not alone. Reports of large populations and control failures have seemingly increased in recent years, not just in Illinois but throughout the Midwest. Alfalfa weevil populations resistant to pyrethroid insecticides were confirmed in the western U.S. several years ago, and there are some indications we might be seeing this in the Midwest as well. In Illinois specifically, it has been several years since our management recommendations in alfalfa have been revisited – we want to make sure these recommendations reflect the current situation.…

Temperatures this week were all over the place, but the average temperatures ended 7 to 15 degrees colder than normal across the state. December to date has also been 7 to 14 degrees colder than normal, making it a top 10 coldest start to December on record in most places, including the 6th coldest on record in Bloomington-Normal.
by Trent Ford, State Climatologist
ISWS PRI University of Illinois
Extremely cold air settled in on Sunday night,…