As we move into the later stages of grain fill, the corn and soybean crop in Douglas County is currently looking very healthy, overall. During my drive around the county, I saw very few soybean fields with drowned out areas. Soybean maturity in fields surveyed ranged from R5 (beginning seed) to R6 (full seed), with some more mature fields starting to show leaf senescence in the lower canopy. Most corn fields surveyed were in late R4 (dough) to early R5 (dent) and had full ears with minimal kernel abortion at ear tips. Soil moisture conditions were good, with drying in the top couple of inches but still plenty of plant-available moisture in the root zone.