Russ Higgins
IL Extension
rahiggin@illinois.edu

Russ Higgins
IL Extension
rahiggin@illinois.edu

RUSS HIGGINS UPDATES

Region 3 | August 7, 2024 | Grundy

Russ Higgins
rahiggin@illinois.edu

Caption: Tar spot Grundy County Aug 6th, 2024
Caption: R5 Beginning seed Soy Aug 6th, 2024
SYNOPSIS

This week precipitation has been mixed in northeast Illinois, areas north of the Rte. 80 corridor have received multiple rainfall events while areas south have received limited to no precipitation. Soy continues to progress, reaching R5, beginning seed stage. Depending upon variety maturity and planting date, most corn fields visited were R3-R4 to R4-R5. An unwelcome discovery this week was significant Tar spot symptoms in several corn fields. The decision on using a fungicide treatment is difficult in later maturity stages, especially when we are near R5, the dent stage. A reminder that grain fill in the dent stage often extends to 30 days or more. However, with declining commodity prices farmers need to consider their ROI (return on investment) when considering a or additional fungicide applications. A tool available to aid in the decision making is the Corn Fungicide ROI Calculator from the Crop Protection Network. The purpose of the Corn Fungicide ROI Calculator is to share results from university uniform corn fungicide trials conducted in the United States and Canada and allow farmers and others in the agricultural industry to calculate the potential return on investment (ROI) for corn fungicide application across a variety of user-defined factors, which is based on research data included in this calculator. The two variables needed are expected corn yield and marketing price. The calculator can be accessed at https://cropprotectionnetwork.org/fungicide-roi-calculator

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING BEST DESCRIBES CURRENT CONDITIONS IN THIS COUNTY?
Mildly Dry (soil is drier than normal, plant growth may have slowed)
IF CONDITIONS ARE ON THE DRY END, WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING US DROUGHT MONITOR CATEGORIES BEST FIT CURRENT CONDITIONS
Abnormally Dry (D0)