Nov 28 | Weather Review and Market Update 

* Invasive Weed Asian Copperleaf Found in Illinois
* East Central Illinois Winter Storm Coming this Weekend
* Register for the Farm Assets Conference
* Commodity Week Podcast

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ASIAN COPPERLEAF WEED FOUND IN ILLINOIS
and interview with Kathryn Seebruck, University of Illinois Extension

Todd Gleason: Now up next, University of Illinois Extension Educator Kathryn Seebruck tells us more about a new invasive weed in the state of Illinois and some of its history here in the United States.

Kathryn Seebruck: So, this new weed species is called Asian Copperleaf. It has been found actually in Stephenson County up in Northwest Illinois. This is the first instance of it being found in the state of Illinois, so definitely a hot topic. It has been found—the first instance of it being found in the United States was in 1990 in New York, actually in New York City. And then from there, it was first found again in 2016 in the state of Iowa. And between 2016 and 2025, the folks at Iowa State University Extension have had their eyes on it and have tracked it, and it has since been spreading, or has spread, to eight different counties in Iowa before it now has entered into Illinois.

Todd Gleason: Is it very much of a problem in those counties in Iowa at this point, do you know?

Kathryn Seebruck: There isn’t a lot of, you know, strict data on this besides anecdotal reports because this is so new. Field research is in the early stages. I will say that in the counties that it has been found, it is typically being detected during harvest. So, farmers as they’re taking down their crop canopies, they are discovering this carpet of weeds in their fields. And they have found that it is, in fact, Asian Copperleaf. So, it does have a bit of an ability to spread, but again, that strict data and research is still forthcoming.

Todd Gleason: You did say also that it does show up early in the season, too, so it must be germinating more than once during the season, I would think.

Kathryn Seebruck: Yeah, there is definitely potential for that, because yes, just like you said, there are reports of seedlings emerging during the planting season and about that April to May time frame. So, that coupled with the fact that it is typically also being detected at harvest, does tell us that maybe it does have multiple flushes of germination throughout the growing season.

Todd Gleason: Because we called this an invasive species, it sounds as if it could be very, very bad, but really, I think what it means is that it’s just not one that’s natural to the United States at this point?

Kathryn Seebruck: Correct. Yeah, there is a distinction between a non-native species and an invasive species. So, non-native just means that it is, this is not its natural, normal home range. It is native to Russia and the Philippines and Japan, and it naturalizes to other areas. So, it is non-native to the United States. It is potentially, of course, naturalizing here. We can’t necessarily classify it as being invasive yet, either, just because there’s not enough preliminary information to classify it as such. But the USDA has done a weed risk assessment on this species, of course, this is a little bit old information back from 2012. And they did find that there are thus far no potential excessive weediness or invasive characteristics of the species, thankfully.

Todd Gleason: Will there be more information yet to come soon?

Kathryn Seebruck: Yes. So, the folks, like I said at Iowa State have been doing some research, and now that it is in Illinois, there will more than likely be field research forthcoming on that in our state, and we will hopefully be collaborating with the folks at Iowa State University as well. So, definitely in this upcoming season, tracking the emergence of the species. We’ve talked about how it’s been detected at harvest, but also during early on in the growing season. So, we want to do some, you know, more hard and fast data on that to determine, are there multiple flushes of germination, when is it typically germinating, things of that nature. So, yes, definitely more information upcoming.

Todd Gleason: What are some of the identifying characteristics of this particular weed so that should a farmer have seen something in their field that they didn’t recognize this fall or maybe next spring, they might be able to figure that out, and do they need to let University of Illinois Extension know?

Kathryn Seebruck: Yeah, that’s a great question. So, this weed species is actually, it’s not, it doesn’t have characteristics that are super stark, let’s say. So, at first glance, you know, kind of in its early growing stages, it looks a little bit actually like waterhemp does. It kind of have, kind of has those lanceolate leaves and some serrated edges of their leaves. But there, when they’re seedlings, they, of course, every plant is very difficult to identify when it’s a seedling. Its cotyledons are very round, which is distinct from waterhemp cotyledons. They are, of course, very lanceolate and oblong. But later on, once the plant has established its flowering features, it does look a little bit more, it’s a little bit easier to identify, as with most plants. Interestingly enough, its flowers actually just look like leaves. So, not a very showy plant by any means. And there is going to be information forthcoming that will provide a lot of really good information about how to properly identify this species. And if you do, you know, once that information is out there and you think you have found this plant in your fields, we highly encourage you to reach out to your local extension agent, whether it’s an educator or specialist, to get some help with some proper identification so we can confirm those reports and get those documented for, you know, so that we have a central location of information to be able to report out where this is being located and how much it is spreading, if at all.

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EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS WINTER WEATHER THIS WEEKEND

– Andrew Pritchard, Meteorologist

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REGISTER FOR THE FARMDOC TEAM WINTER MEETINGS

The 2025 Farm Assets Conference is scheduled for Friday, December 12 at the AgriCenter in Bloomington, Illinois. The doors open at 7:30 a.m. central. The program starts at 8:00 a.m. Registration for 2025 is $80 per person through noon December 8 and $100 thereafter. Media and Extension personnel may register for free.

CLICK TO REGISTER and for complete Farm Assets Conference details.

LET’S TALK FUNDAMENTALS
Commodity Markets and Crop Budgets
Trade, Transportation, and the Global Grain Markets.

DEMAND ON THE HORIZON
Signs Point to a Bullish Biofuels Policy
BioManufacturing and the Future of Ag
Ag Policy Objectives and Prospects

SPREADSHEETS AND MUDDY BOOTS
Why you should use the N-Rate Calculator
Crop Sciences for the 2026 Growing Season

RESEARCH, OUTREACH, AND WORKING TOGETHER
Round Table with the Ag Leadership

You may also want to register for the 2025 Illinois Farm Economic Summits. Visit the IFES website for more details about these ag econ meetings in DeKalb, Peoria, and Mt. Vernon.

Contact Todd Gleason at tgleason@illinois.edu or (217) 333-9697 if you have questions.

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PUBLIC RADIO FOR THE FARMING WORLD

WILLAg.org radio programming for the work week ending November 26, 2025

Commodity Week can be heard in the 2 o’clock hour central time on WILL AM580 or you may subscribe to it using the links in the player below. This week the panelists include Mike Zuzolo of GlobalCommResearch.com, Aaron Curtis at MID-CO, and Matt Darragh from Kpler.

The Closing Market Report airs at 2:06 p.m. central daily on WILL AM580. It, too, is a podcast. Subscribe using the link in the player.