With corn planting off to a very slow start this year, few people have been worrying about getting soybeans planted. Though we’ve been saying in recent years that early planting of soybean helps increase yield potential, corn typically loses yield faster than soybean as planting is delayed. So it is appropriate to plant corn first, before soybean.
How early is “early” when it comes to soybean planting? Based on planting date responses we have seen in recent years,…
Wet soil conditions have caused delays in both planting and efforts to control existing weed vegetation. Much of the existing weed growth is comprised of winter annual species, such as common chickweed, henbit, purple deadnettle, etc., but emergence of several summer annual species also has begun. The growth of all species has accelerated with warmer temperatures and abundant soil moisture. Several species of winter annuals are flowering and could produce viable seed before they are controlled with either tillage or herbicides. …
2013 Season at the University of Illinois Plant Clinic
After the extra early season last year, now we are in the midst of an extra late one. Samples have been slowly appearing this spring here at the Clinic in our 38th year of operation. The unusually cool wet weather has kept many out of the field and landscapes. The University of Illinois Plant Clinic began year-round operation in the fall of 2011, when we moved from our facility on St.…
A recent article published in this Bulletin by Dr. Mike Gray (“Soil Insecticide Use on Bt Corn Expected to Increase this Spring Across Much of Illinois”) provides insights and data that suggest the use of at-planting soil-insecticides in corn is likely to increase this season. Many insecticide choices are available to farmers, but several of these could restrict the option to use certain corn herbicides. Specifically, using an organophosphate (OP) insecticide at planting or after corn emergence could restrict the use of herbicides that inhibit either the ALS or HPPD enzymes. …
April 2013 has turned into a “second March”, with wet weather and cool temperatures persisting into the last week of the month, and corn planting progress stuck at 1 percent, with little chance of much additional progress before the calendar turns to May. Nationally, only 4 percent of the corn crop was planted by April 21, and none of the Corn Belt states had more than 1 percent planted. The corn that has been planted is struggling mightily to survive the soil conditions and to emerge.…
UPDATE(4/25): Additional volunteers needed. Kelly Estes, Coordinator of the Illinois Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey suggests anyone interested in monitoring traps contact her at: kcook8@illinois.edu or 217-333-1005.
Currently, black cutworm moth pheromone traps are active in the University of Illinois insect monitoring program. Traps for other species will be brought online as the season progresses. Extension Educators and volunteers monitor the traps and report the results through the North Central IPM PIPE system,…
The continual evolution of weed species and populations resistant to herbicides from one or more mechanism-of-action families represents one of the most daunting challenges faced by weed management practitioners. Currently in Illinois, biotypes of 12 weed species have been confirmed resistant to one or more herbicide mechanisms of action. Resistance to herbicides that inhibit the ALS enzyme is the most common type of resistance in Illinois. Waterhemp has evolved resistance to more herbicide mechanisms of action than any other Illinois weed species,…
Yes, a year does make a lot of difference – in 2012, we had 5 percent of the Illinois corn crop planted by April 1 and 17 percent planted by April 9. This year, the April 8 issue of Illinois Weather & Crops from the Illinois office of NASS gives no percentage planted as of April 7, which means that less than 1 percent had been planted. There has been some planting this week,…