After the strong storms that passed through the region yesterday (June 18), most fields in northern Vermilion County are saturated, with a little standing water in low-lying areas and compacted headlands. The storms also brought strong winds, but fortunately, the damage to crops seems to be minimal in that part of the county.

Most corn in the area was leaning, but there were only a couple of areas where the crop was nearly flat. The affected corn was on the more advanced end of the crop growth range in the region, which is around the V8 to V10 growth stages. However, I saw minimal greensnap, so much of that corn, which is currently horizontal, will likely recover — albeit with a goosenecked stalk. Later-planted corn, generally in the V3 to V4 range, was affected little by the winds.

Soybeans ranged in growth stage from V1/V2 to R1, with some earlier-maturity soybeans starting to open their first flowers. Weed control in both corn and soybeans was mixed, with the wet conditions likely contributing to an inability for farmers to get timely postemergence herbicide applications completed.

I found a couple of wheat fields during my survey, both of which were in the Feekes 11.2 growth stage, with kernel starches at a “soft dough” consistency.

I traveled north to Ford County for my crop survey on Monday (06/09) of this week, and there was a bit of variability across the county in both growth stage and stand health. That variability was driven by soil moisture status, with saturated soils and localized ponding in low areas and headlands of fields in some parts of the county. Subsequently, these fields currently have uneven crop growth and canopy color, and in some cases, areas that will require a replant. However, most fields I saw during my survey appeared healthy, overall. Corn ranged in maturity from V2/V3 up to V7/V8. Similarly, soybean fields ranged from VE (a couple fields) to V3/V4. The few wheat fields I came across were moving into the ripening stage (Feekes 11.1), with grain heads turning to a golden amber color and kernel starches turning to a milky substance.

At the time of my survey (6/3) in northern Champaign County, soil moisture conditions were near normal in the top several inches, although some wet corners and low areas of fields could still be found. But with about an inch of rain falling on Wednesday (6/4), soils are currently a little on the wet side. Overall, the corn and soybean crops are looking healthy in the area with some of the corn starting to take off. The average growth stage of corn fields encountered during my survey was around V3-V4 with some of the earlier planted fields reaching V6-V7. Side-dress ammonia was being applied in a few corn fields in the area, as well. Soybeans were largely in the VC-V1 range, with a few fields a bit further along. Weed control looked good, for the most part, and post-emergence herbicide applications had been made in many of the soybean fields visited. Wheat fields surveyed were finished flowering (Feekes 10.5.4) but developing kernels are still in the “watery ripe” stage.

All but maybe a handful of corn and soy fields have been planted in Douglas County. For both corn and soy, most fields are still in earlier stages of development (V1-V2), and I also saw several fields that were just now emerging (VE). However, there were a number of fields in certain pockets of the county reaching V3-V4 for soy and V4-V5 for corn. The few wheat fields I saw were on the tail end of flowering (Feekes 10.5.4).

Weed pressure appeared to still be low in most corn fields, but I found a few soybean fields that will be needing a post-emergence application before too long. With warmer weather and not too much rain in the forecast next week, soils should be dry enough to handle traffic in most fields. The warmer weather also means emerged weeds, particularly waterhemp, will grow quickly, thereby reducing the efficacy of chemical control options. Because of this and varying degrees of herbicide resistance in waterhemp populations, it is recommended to apply post-emergence herbicides when waterhemp is no more than 3-4 inches in height. For more information on waterhemp biology and control options, check out the resources on the Getting Rid Of Weeds (GROW) website.

https://growiwm.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/20200921-factsheet-waterhemp-ada-usdadraft.pdf

For my crop survey this week, I traveled to southern Vermilion County. Most of the area had received at least an inch of rain over the past 24 hours, and likely more in some areas over the past week with the pop-up showers that were prevalent before temps cooled down. Although it was on the wet side, most fields had been planted and the majority of those had emerged, with just a couple areas with fields tilled but still unplanted. Corn generally ranged from VE to V3-4, and soybean ranged from VE to V1-2. The couple wheat fields I observed were fully headed out.

During my survey on Tuesday of this week (5/13), I made it circuit around the eastern half of McLean County. When I started my survey in the southeast corner of the county, soil moisture in fields was near normal to slightly dry on some of the hilltops. However, pop-up showers were prevalent that afternoon, and by the time I reached the northern part of the county, there was water standing in headlands, low areas in fields, and roadside ditches. So, although I’ve indicated the soil moisture conditions were “slightly wet” for this report, the truth is that is a county average with quite a bit of variability across the county at the time of my survey.

Before those pop-up showers hit, there were planters rolling in the fields. At least half of the fields I observed in my survey had emerged crop, and the majority of the remainder had been planted with maybe only 10-15% unplanted. Most emerged corn is somewhere in the V1-V2 range, and most soybeans were still at VC with the first trifoliates just starting to unfold. Weed control still looked good in most fields; earlier planted fields are starting to show some sparse weed emergence.

Although planting progress has stalled in Champaign County recently, the crop that was planted before the recent bout of rainstorms is emerging. From my survey in the southern half of Champaign County on May 6, many of the higher and dryer fields I observed had been planted with the crop emerged in perhaps 30-40% of those fields. However, many of the fields in that portion of the county remained unplanted at the time of my survey due to the moderately wet soil conditions. Standing water was only present in a few field corners/headlands, but this ponding was not widespread across large portions of fields. With warmer, dryer weather in the forecast for this week and next, I suspect many farmers will make quite a bit of progress over the next 7-10 days. The couple wheat fields I found during my survey were both at boot stage and looking healthy so far. Most of the cover cropped and/or no-till fields I observed had received their burndown applications, with the exception of one cereal rye field that was headed out but not quite at anthesis.

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.

Harvest has begun in select fields in northern Champaign County. A number of corn fields have been “opened up”, and I saw a couple soybean fields where harvest had also started. However, there are still plenty of corn and beans in the county holding on to some green leaves, but the warm, dry weather has been moving things along quickly. Most corn fields surveyed were at or within a few days of R6 (physiological maturity; black layer), although I did find a couple fields still at mid-R5 (dent). Soybeans ranged from late R6 (full seed) through R8 (full maturity) with most falling in the R7 (beginning maturity) range. As is the case in much of the state that didn’t get appreciable rain out of the remnants of last week’s Hurricane (then Tropical Storm) Francine, soil conditions are getting dry in northern Champaign County.

Harvest is not far off for some of the early-planted fields in Douglas County, but with the extended planting season, there are still plenty of green fields as well in the county. All corn fields surveyed were at least at R5 (dent) with 50% milk line, and several were just reaching R6 (black layer) or within a few days of it. Soybean fields generally ranged from late R6 (full seed) through R7 (beginning maturity), and I spotted a couple fields within a couple more warm days of R8 (full maturity).