This week, I visited fields in central Champaign County. With much of the recently forecasted rain missing the area, soils are starting to dry up again. Digging down in a few field, there is still some moisture present a few inches below the surface, but that too is starting to dry. Plants do not looked stress at this point in time, but that could change quickly with a warm week ahead of us an minimal chances for rain in the current forecast. The vast majority of corn fields I visited had finished pollination, and were generally at blister (R2) or milk (R3) stages. Soybeans were generally at beginning pod (R3) to full pod (R4). Weed control was variable, with most pressure coming from waterhemp, and a few morning glories here and there. From the road, many soybean fields still look rather clean, but waterhemp pushing through the canopy is also starting to become a more common sight in the area.