Archive

If you find yourself wondering what happened when, look no further than the Crop Report Archive. We’ve compiled past reports, listing the most recent first. You can search by Region, Month, or Reporter to find information.

Region 5 | August 27, 2026 | DeWitt, Macon & Piatt

Doug Gucker
dgucker@illinois.edu

A field of soybeans turning yellow, which means they are reaching beginning maturity, R7 stage.
Caption: Some soybean fields are just beginning to turn colors indicating that they are in the Beginning Maturity, R7 stage.
Photo looking down between 2 rows of corn. The corn leaves are showing severe N deficiency symptoms; a few plants are dead, and some are lodged. This points to a root or stalk issue.
Caption: A big issue in local earlier planted corn fields are the areas of prematurely dead corn. This seems to be the result of either corn crown rot, or root and stalk diseases.
Caption: Photo showing a corn root crown with what looks to be corn crown rot.
SYNOPSIS

Earlier-planted soybean fields are beginning to turn color, signaling the Beginning Maturity (R7) stage. Other soybean fields are mostly in the Full Seed, R6 stage, and no longer blooming.
Earlier-planted corn fields are looking ugly with areas of the fields showing severe N-deficiency symptoms and dead plants, which is indicative of a root or stalk disease issue. Corn crown rot is suspected to be the cause in some of the fields. I currently have several corn plant roots and lower stalks being analyzed at the U of I Plant Clinic in the hope of determining the cause or causes. Local farmers are preparing for a challenging beginning to their corn harvest in the area.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING BEST DESCRIBES CURRENT CONDITIONS IN THIS COUNTY?
Near Normal