Some very welcome rains have been received over the past week with totals varying from less than 1″ to nearly 3″ in my 3-county area. Corn and soybean fields are being harvested with yields being reported as good. If you are planning on letting your corn dry in the field, please check those fields for their standability. and whether they need to be harvested earlier rather than later. I ran across an area where the corn fields had suffered weather stress issues during the growing season and the stalk quality was not great (see photo).

Corn is being harvested in my area, since a large wet milling corn processor announced no discounts for wet corn, only shrinkage to be applied. The only soybeans not turning yellow and reaching maturity are the double-crop fields.

Early planted corn has reached “black layer” with the milkline nearly reaching the tip of the kernel. Late planted corn is in late R4 stage. Early planted soybean leaves are turning yellow and nearly at R7 stage. Double cropped soybeans are reaching the R5 stage. Crops are maturing quickly. Some stinkbug pod feeding is being seen.

Corn is in the dough to dent stage and generally looking good. Fields that have experienced hail after the ear formed are showing ear rots. Corn leaves tattered in every field across the area. No tar spot evident, yet.
Full season Soybean are in the R4-R5 stages and plant health is good. Double crop soybeans are in bloom with small pods forming at the lower nodes.

In general, all the crops are looking good with very few issues other than weather related problems. Last week’s surge in aphid populations is now a thing of the past with rainstorms, disease and predators sending the populations into a nosedive.

In general, the corn and soybean fields look good. Weed escapes are beginning to show in a few soybean fields. Early planted soybean fields are in the R3 stage. Early planted corn fields are R3 stage with late planted fields in R1 (silking) stage. Corn leaf aphids are making a presence in the R1 corn fields, but at this time there is no need to apply control measures. Silking corn fields should be monitored for aphid numbers and whether the crop is suffering moisture stress. Current IL thresholds for aphid control in corn is >50% of the corn plants have more than 100 aphids per plant and the plant is in moisture stress; OR >3% of the corn plants have heavily infested tassels and upper corn leaves plus suffering moisture stress. Remember aphids are controlled by insect predators, diseases and rainfall washing them off.

The recent rains from the remnants of Beryl delivered much needed rains to my 3-county area with totals ranging from 1.25 to 3.7 inches. This has been in US Drought Monitor categories: Abnormally Dry to Moderate Drought. At this moment, the corn varies from pollination (R2) to nearly VT stage. All soybeans are blooming with some setting pods. Currently, corn leaf diseases are hard to find and soybeans are suffering some leaf feeding from Japanese beetles.

The rainfall has been quite variable across my 3-county area with some areas receiving less than 25% of normal and other areas with near-normal precipitation. In the dry areas, crops are showing the moisture stress in the heat of the day. Early planted corn is in the R! stage, silking. Wheat harvest is done and double-crop soybean planting is finished, this is early for my part of the state.

Early planted corn and soybean fields are in the V6 and 3rd trifoliate stages, respectively. Most fields in the area are planted, but there are still a few fields have to be planted in the areas that received heavy rains. Ponding in planted fields is a problem in some areas. The emerged crops look good but there is a wide range in plant growth.
The few wheat fields in area are looking good with very little head scab and plant health generally looks good.

Over the past week, rainfall in the three-county area of DeWitt, Macon, & Piatt has varied from about 0.25 to over 1.5 inches. Farmers were able to resume planting again this past weekend for a few days in some areas. Early planted corn and soybeans are in the V3 and V1 stages, respectively. Planting progress varies from nearly complete to 40% complete depending on how wet the soils have been.
Some fields are being planted without the emerged weeds being controlled by burndown herbicide applications or tillage.