Cooler and wet conditions have moved in across northern Illinois. Light rain and heavy morning dews have propagated some late season diesase in both corn and soybeans as we start to enter wide-scale senescence and harvest.

Soybeans in McHenry and Deklab counties are producing large amounts of pods, as well as filling those pods very well. I expect many soybean fields to have high yields. I have seen mostly foliar late season diseases such as SDS and septoria leaf spot, but nothing of major concern that will slow down soybean pod fill. Fields with earlier maturities are well into senescence as well.

Corn is finally starting to show some disease with the prolonged leaf tissue wetness, and lower temperatures that we have seen in September. Tar spot, northern corn leaf blight, and even some late season southern rust are being found in fields. Many corn fields are starting to fire and die down, as well as hitting black layer, or physiological plant death. Disease at this point will mostly go on to determine innoculum load for next season, as well as assist in drying down plant material for harvest.

Overall, we are steadily marching towards harvest, and hoping for some great drying and harvest weather to finish out the season