cropCENTRAL | Field Crop Production Resources

Control Weeds before Planting

  • May 1, 2013

  • Aaron Hager

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. …

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Plant Diagnostic Clinic Ready for the 2013 Season

  • April 30, 2013

  • Suzanne Bissonnette

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.…

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Corn Herbicide/Insecticide Precautions

  • April 25, 2013

  • Aaron Hager

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. …

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Planting Delays and Corn Prospects

  • April 24, 2013

  • Emerson Nafziger

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.…

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The Trapping Line: April 23

  • April 23, 2013

  • Dennis Bowman

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,…

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Herbicide Resistance: Are Soil-Applied Herbicides Immune?

  • April 16, 2013

  • Aaron Hager

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,…

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Corn Planting Time in a “Normal” Spring

  • April 10, 2013

  • Emerson Nafziger

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,…

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Pyramided Bt Cotton and Factors Leading to Potential Compromised Longevity: Cautionary Findings for Bt Corn and Western Corn Rootworm?

  • April 9, 2013

  • Michael Gray

In late March 2013, an article was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) titled “Potential shortfall of pyramided transgenic cotton for insect resistance management.” The authors of the paper were as follows: Thierry Brévault, Shannon Heuberger, Min Zhang, Christa Ellers-Kirk, Xinzhi Ni, Luke Masson, Xianchiun Li, Bruce E. Tabashnik, and Yves Carrière. The scientists pointed out in their introduction that the first generation of Bt cotton plants,…

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Applying Dicamba Prior to Planting

  • April 9, 2013

  • Aaron Hager

Dicamba is a growth regulator herbicide that can be used to control existing weed vegetation prior to crop planting.   Several commercially-available products contain dicamba, but not all products are specifically labeled for application prior to crop (especially soybean) planting.  Clarity may be applied before planting no-tillage corn at rates ranging from 8 (on coarse soils or medium- and fine-textured soils with less than 2.5% organic matter) to 16 (medium- and fine-textured soils containing 2.5% or greater organic matter) fluid ounces. …

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