Kathryn Seebruck – Commercial Agriculture Educator
Stephenson County
Soil Conditions: Moderately Wet (soil is damp, standing water may be present in low areas, water bodies are full)
Much like many areas of the state, northwest Illinois has received plenty of rainfall in the past couple of weeks, but there have still been enough dry days that have allowed for decent planting conditions. About 10-15% of fields in this area have visibly emerging corn,…
You can also read this article in Portuguese and Spanish
April temperatures were warmer than normal in Illinois, making the January-April period one of the warmest on record. April was also wetter than normal, and as rains have continued into May, questions about nitrogen (N) losses continue to increase. This concern is greater for fall-applied N, but warm soil temperatures and wet soils have some people talking about the possible need for more N to replace what might have been lost so far.…
Spring moth trapping is one month in and we thank all of the volunteer cooperators for diligently sending in trap counts each week. 
The stormy weather pattern continues to bring north lots of black cutworm moths. Several counties have had significant moth flights. We expect more over the coming weeks.
While black cutworm flights have been steady these past few weeks, the same cannot be said for true armyworm. Trap catches have been low across the state.…
March was relatively warm and dry in Illinois, and corn planting started early: NASS reported that 1% of the Illinois corn crop was planted by March 31, and 2% by April 7. Those are no record-early starts, but it’s rare to have enough planted acreage to report by April 1. Most of the state has had above-normal rainfall for far in April, so we expect limited planting progress in the coming days.
In this article we’ll consider a few nitrogen-related issues to keep in mind as planting progresses in 2024:
Due perhaps to an article in the Ohio State C.O.R.N newsletter this week,…
You can also read this article in Portuguese and Spanish
While statewide precipitation in March averaged 3.21 inches (89% of normal), we saw a clear north-south gradient within Illinois, with totals ranging from half to an inch above normal in the northern part of Illinois to as much as up to two inches below normal in the southern end of the state. April began with above-average precipitation across the state, with 7-day totals averaging almost 2 inches,…
The following is a series of crop insurance links related to information produced by the University of Illinois agricultural economist since March 1. You may find them useful in making crop insurance decisions. The first is a webinar the team hosted in which Bruce Sherrick and Nick Paulson detail both crop insurance and farm safety net (ARC/PLC) decisions.
The above webinar was aired on Monday of this past week. Tuesday the team posted an article titled “…
The Insect Trapping Network provides real-time information to growers through Illinois during the growing season. As in past years, our spring traps focus on black cutworm and true armyworm moths. During the summer months, our focus switches to corn earworm, European corn borer and fall armyworm.
We are currently looking for cooperators to monitor both black cutworm and true armyworm traps from April 1 – May 31. By placing traps around the state, we are able to provide information on pest populations as they move into the state and predict timing of potential injury.…
On February 6, 2024, a federal court in Arizona vacated the labels of three dicamba-containing products used for in-crop broadleaf weed control in dicamba-resistant soybean varieties. The court ruled that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) violated the Federal Fungicide, Insecticide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) when the agency relabeled these products following the previous label vacatur issued by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 2020. It is important to clarify this recent court ruling and label vacatur affects only three products: XtendiMax (Bayer CropScience),…
An article in the online Prairie Farmer on October 11, 2023 titled “How much nitrogen does corn get from fertilizer?” followed by the subheading …”80% of a corn crop’s N comes from the soil…” This has caused a great deal of discussion and consternation among those who sell and use nitrogen fertilizer on corn.
The basis for the article was a May 2023 news release from the University of Illinois College of ACES, which summarized findings from several studies conducted in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences by Dr.…
Russ Higgins – Extension Commercial Ag Educator
Grundy County
Soil Conditions: Moderately Dry (soil is dry, plants may be browning or stressed, water bodies are low)
Corn is at R5 (dent), and most soy is at R6 (full seed). Fields that still have green tissue are benefitting from recent rainfall. Areas that experienced drought conditions after pollination and during grain fill can expect corn kernel abortion near the ear tip and smaller and lighter kernels.…