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Drought Spreads Across Illinois as Dry Weather Continues

  • June 2, 2023

Dry conditions continue to worsen in Illinois as drought spreads across the state, according to Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford at the Illinois State Water Survey.
The U.S. Drought Monitor now shows the Chicagoland area, much of central Illinois, and areas along the Missouri border from Quincy to St. Louis are in moderate drought, and the northern two-thirds of the state are characterized as abnormally dry.
Among the many impacts of drought conditions, lawns, gardens, and trees have begun to show moderate to significant moisture stress in northeast and central Illinois.…

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Jun 02 | Weekly Climate Review & Weather Forecast

  • June 2, 2023

Mark us down for another oddly pleasant weather week. Average temperatures this week ranged form the low 60s in northern Illinois to the high 60s in southern Illinois, 1 to 2 degrees above average. The dry air helped daytime high temperatures push into the mid 80s, and allowed nighttime temperatures to dip into the 40s across the state, including 40-degree lows in Aurora and Normal. The month of May to date has been 1 to 3 degrees above normal statewide.…

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Illinois Crop Update – June 2, 2023

  • June 2, 2023

Russ Higgins – Extension Commercial Ag Educator
Grundy County
Soil Conditions: Mildly Dry (soil is drier than normal, plant growth may have slowed)
Northeastern Illinois is turning dry. Post herbicide applications are taking place in corn fields. Despite dry conditions weed growth and diversity of species has been impressive in some fields, including robust vining weeds including burcucumber and morningglory.  Early planted corn is at V6 and Soy at V2. I received reports of heavy alfalfa weevil feeding and below average tonnage from the first cutting of hay in the region. …

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Illinois Crop Update – May 26, 2023

  • May 26, 2023

Russ Higgins – Extension Commercial Ag Educator
Grundy County
Soil Conditions: Mildly Dry (soil is drier than normal, plant growth may have slowed)
Much of Northeastern Illinois has had a precipitation-free week. Soils are drying rapidly. Soy planted just before the most recent rainfall event is struggling to emerge in some fields. The soy hypocotyl cannot push through the crusted soil surface. Fields planted in this time period warrant a field scouting trip to evaluate emerged plant population.…

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Illinois Crop Update – May 19, 2023

  • May 19, 2023

Russ Higgins – Extension Commercial Ag Educator
Grundy County
Soil Conditions: Mildly Wet (soil is wetter than normal, local vegetation is healthy)
Mostly favorable growing conditions in NE Illinois.  Spotty precipitation slowed some farmers who are trying to wrap up the 2023 planting season. Cooler soils slowed some soybean emergence, especially in high residue no-till fields. Those scouting soybean fields have reported some emerging soy exhibiting discolored cotyledons. Likely causes can include stressful emergence conditions,…

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Black cutworm feeding possible in coming weeks

  • May 17, 2023

Black cutworms have been observed in traps across the state for the past couple of weeks. Several counties have reported significant moth flights (9 or more moths over a 2-night span). We can use the date of the significant flight to predict potential cutting dates based on degree day predictions.
For more complete information about the biology, life cycle, and management of black cutworms, a fact sheet is available from the Department of Crop Sciences,…

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Wheat and Double-Crop Soybeans

  • May 15, 2023

Planted wheat acreage in Illinois increased by 35%, from 650,000 acres in 2022 to 880,000 for the crop to be harvested in 2023. Wheat acreage by county or crop reporting district is not available, but indications are that some of the additional acreage is in parts of central Illinois where wheat acreage has been limited in recent decades. Wheat yields in Illinois were record-high (79 bushels per acre) in both 2021 and 2022, which along with high wheat prices added to expectations that wheat would be a profitable crop in 2023.…

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Illinois Crop Update – May 12, 2023

  • May 12, 2023

Russ Higgins – Extension Commercial Ag Educator
Grundy County
Soil Conditions: Mildly Wet (soil is wetter than normal, local vegetation is healthy)
Sunshine and heat, finally! Favorable growing conditions in NE Illinois. The sunshine, warmth, and needed rain gave a boost to both corn and soybean that had been slowly trying to emerge and grow. Despite concerns, I have heard few reports of emergence issues with seed sitting in cool soils for extended periods.…

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Recommendations to Manage Herbicide-Resistant Weeds: It’s Not as Easy as Some Believe

  • May 9, 2023

One of the most daunting challenges facing agronomic crop production is the continuing evolution of weeds resistant to herbicides. The magnitude of herbicide resistance is best measured on a global scale. The most recent summary indicates 520 unique cases of herbicide resistance—encompassing 268 species—occur globally. Approximately 11–12 cases of unique resistance are discovered each year. In contrast, our understanding of how and why weeds are evolving various resistance mechanisms is evolving much slower. This introduces a somewhat precarious situation: if we do not fully understand how/why these resistance mechanisms evolve,…

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Illinois Crop Update – May 5, 2023

  • May 5, 2023

Nick Seiter – Extension Field Crops Entomologist, University of Illinois
Champaign County
Soil Conditions: Mildly Dry
Reports of insect activity so far have focused on large/early flights of black cutworm and true armyworm, likely helped along by storms out of the southwest a couple of weeks ago. Both species are more likely to be a problem if dense vegetation is present in the field; black cutworms are especially attracted to winter annual weeds,…

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