We were starting to almost be dry enough to start fieldwork again but it rained today. The mid March planted corn and soybeans have just emerged. The previous winds have brought significant flights of cutworm moths in traps.

After receiving a significant amount of rain (1.5-2.0) over 2-3 days, planting and spraying halted until late week, with sprayers rolling again on Thursday. These wet conditions allowed everyone to catch up on maintenance items, mapping boundaries, and ultimately not feeling guilty about taking some family time Easter Sunday. We anticipate planting to resume Friday into the weekend as conditions become more favorable. There was also learning opportunities to “sharpen the blade” such as Illinois Soybean Association’s Agronomy Team’s Q&A webinar and other industry insight webinars.

Following weekend rainfall (4/18–4/21), most of the area received 1–1.5″. By Wednesday (4/23), fields had dried out enough for farmers to get back to work. Tillage ramped up midweek as we enjoyed sunshine, calm winds, and temps reaching the 80s. Soil temperatures have been hovering in the mid-50s. Soybeans are going in, corn planting is underway, and ag retailers are staying busy with dry fertilizer, anhydrous ammonia, and preplant herbicide applications.
Field work is moving quickly as farmers take advantage of the favorable conditions ahead of Friday’s forecasted rain.

In the fields of Knox County and the surrounding areas, we are seeing soybean planters rolling, sprayers running, and what is presenting to be purple henbit weed popping up across the majority of the fields. Early in the week, planting conditions were ideal, with a slight weather delay mid-week, but by Thursday evening, growers were going again.

Drying field conditions , rivers still above flood stage. Work in uplands progressing very well.

Soil temps are increasing in our no-till field that will be planted to soybeans. I’m hearing that many farmers either started planting this past weekend or going to get in the fields early this week. Spring burn down going on when they can catch a break with the wind.

We kicked off #plant25 by planting 4.0 maturity soybean. We are taking advantage of a very, small planting window before a long stint of forecasted rain.

Harvesting progress has slowed down significantly across Logan, Menard, and Sangamon counties due to rain over the last week. This rain, combined with rain forecast for later in the week, means that harvest may be delayed even further. Diseases such as tar spot in corn are beginning to show themselves, but no impacts on yield are expected this late in the growing season.

A widespread rainfall event passed through northeast Illinois putting a temporary hold on harvest activities. This pause gives growers the opportunity to visit fields and evaluate combine performance in harvested areas. This is also one of the easiest times to measure harvest populations in corn fields. For 30-inch rows, count the number of plants in 17 feet 5 inches and multiply by 1000 to determine population per acre. Winter annuals have started to grow, including common chickweed and henbit in northeast fields. Several reports of soy as dry as 9 percent moisture have been shared. The following recommendations originated from the University of Nebraska in reference to soybean harvest, “moisture content can increase by several points with an overnight dew or it can decrease by several points during a day with low humidity and windy conditions. Avoid harvesting when beans are driest, such as on hot afternoons, to maintain moisture and reduce shattering losses. Harvesting immediately after a rain, if field conditions allow, will result in higher moisture contents. However, several wetting and drying cycles from rain events will make the soybeans more susceptible to shatter losses from pods splitting open.” The full UNL article for equipment adjustment for harvesting soybean can be accessed at https://cropwatch.unl.edu/2017/tips-harvesting-soybeans-13-15-moisture

After some needed rains came through the area, harvest has been stalled for a couple days in the region. During my survey of southern Vermilion County, I saw a few combines parked in the field ready to get rolling again soon. Of the harvested fields I saw, it was about a 60/40 split, with more soybeans harvested than corn. At this time, I would estimate about 10 percent of the fields I passed by during my survey had been harvested. For the standing corn fields surveyed, the majority were at or within a couple days of R6 (black layer). Most soybean fields have made it at least into R7 (beginning maturity) with quite a few at R8 and just waiting for field conditions to dry up a bit more before being harvested.