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The 2015 Illinois corn crop continues to develop on schedule, with 75% of the crop having reached silking by July 19. But the crop condition rating continues its steady downward trend, with the good + excellent percentage now at 55%, down from its high of 79% at the end of May. Virtually all of this decline is due to standing water, past or present.
Rainfall frequency and amount has moderated some, but parts of western Illinois have received more than 6 inches so far in July.…

The 2015 Orr Center Field Day presented by the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois will be held on Wednesday, July 22 at the Orr Center, which is located on Route 104 four miles west of the junction of Illinois Routes 104 and 107.
Tours will start at 9:00 AM, by group with the last group leaving by 9:20. The tour will take about two hours, and will be followed by lunch provided by UI Extension.…

As part of our on-going USDA NIFA (National Institute for Food and Agriculture) sponsored University of Illinois Extension IPM Program, our research team, led by Nick Tinsley (Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Crop Sciences), surveyed 28 counties between June 10 to 22 for first-generation European corn borer injury. The counties and six regions surveyed are listed below.
Regions and Counties Surveyed
Northwestern Illinois: Bureau, Knox, Mercer, Ogle and Whiteside
Northeastern Illinois: Kane, Kankakee, LaSalle, Livingston and McLean
West-central Illinois: Adams,…

The Northern Illinois Agronomy Research Center will be hosting its summer Agronomy Day on Thursday, July 9th in Shabbona. Join University of Illinois Extension specialists and researchers as they address issues pertinent to the 2015 crop growing season.
The program begins at 9:00 a.m. and will finish with a noon meal provided at no cost. It is open to all who wish to attend and there is no registration fee. Certified crop adviser continuing educational units will be available.…

Byron Hendrix, Agronomist with Terayne AG Specialties, Venedy, IL, observed green and brown stink bugs in soybean fields in Washington County on June 25. The field in which stink bugs were observed was planted in early May. Management of stink bugs in vegetative stage soybeans is not typically necessary. As plants enter the reproductive stages of development and pods begin to fill, rescue treatments may be warranted. Growers should consider a rescue treatment when adult bugs or large nymphs reach densities of 1 per foot of row when pods are filling.…

In spite of the very heavy precipitation and saturated soils in many fields across the state, some western corn rootworm adults have survived and have been sighted in several fields in central Illinois. Matt O’Whene, Research Associate with DuPont Pioneer, observed western corn rootworm adults in a cornfield located in Piatt County on June 24. The western corn rootworm in Matt’s photograph appears to be a male. Males typically emerge first followed by the emergence of females a few days later.…

Joe Spencer, an entomologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, observed 2nd and 3rd instar corn rootworm larvae earlier today (June 23) in his research plots located north of Urbana, Illinois. He anticipates the emergence of adults from these plots by early next week. As we begin the 4th of July Holiday, I suspect initial sightings of western corn rootworm adults will begin to occur across central Illinois. Overall, I anticipate the statewide population of western corn rootworms to be reduced this season due to the heavy precipitation many areas have received throughout June leading to saturated soils at the time of larval hatch.…

The annual western corn rootworm hatch appears to be similar this spring to the two most recent growing seasons. Thanks to Larry Bledsoe and his entomology colleagues at Purdue University, we have compiled a list of hatch dates over the past 20 years! Beginning on May 21 (and at 3-day intervals), Larry examined the root tissue of untreated corn plants for first instar larvae. On June 4 in Tippecanoe County, Indiana he found his first corn rootworm larva and estimated that hatch occurred the day before.…