After a wet past four days in east central IL (2-3 inches so far in most areas), many fields in northern Vermilion County have standing water as of my survey on Thursday morning. For most fields, this is isolated to small, low lying areas and field edges. But in pockets of that part of the county, there are fields with relatively large areas underwater, at times with the young crop fully submerged. With more rain in the forecast over the next few days, it may be some time before those areas fully drain. As for crop progress, most corn was somewhere in the V4-V8 range, and most soybeans were V1-V3. The five wheat fields I found were all in the dough stage of kernel development (Feekes 11.2), and some minimal lodging could be seen along field edges and in low areas in a couple of those fields.

After a week of high temperatures and little rainfall, Wednesday (6/10) storms brought over an inch of rain to many parts of the County. This will be followed by another round of storms on 6/11. Despite the heavy winds and tornado reports from the 6/10 storms, there does not appear to be much wind damage to crops in much of the County.

The recent heat has caused crops to quickly grow. If you listen closely, you can hear the corn growing. Soybeans are starting to try to canopy and just started to flower (R1). No major pests or diseases seen at this time. We have been blessed with an almost weekly rain. There are still areas in the county that have not been planted or just recently planted or replanted due to heavy rains.

Although the entire month of May saw just under an inch of rain in total, the beginning of June has brought some relief with over two inches of rain deposited thus far with more on the way (based on data from the Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program Freeport station – your mileage may vary!).

Stephenson County is the home of the first reported population of Asian copperleaf in Illinois (https://extension.illinois.edu/news-releases/novel-illinois-weed-species-asian-copperleaf-identified-northern-illinois). Although originally thought to be a late emerging weed typically not noticed until after harvest, seedlings have already been emerging over the last couple of weeks. When scouting prior to making post emergence herbicide applications, keep an eye out for Asian copperleaf. For help with identification, see the attached photos as well as the Asian copperleaf fact sheet from Illinois Extension at https://extension.illinois.edu/media/9233/download?inline.

If you suspect you have Asian copperleaf, please contact Kathryn Seebruck at 815-986-4357 or seebruck@illinois.edu. Reports can also be made at https://www.eddmaps.org/.

Another week, more beautiful and perfect weather for outdoor activities. More notably, another week of little to no rain as we continue to progress into an early summer drought. Most of northern Illinois would be considered to be in a D1 moderate drought as of now. The forecast is promising, with chances this weekend, and most of next week to remedy how dry it has been. With moisture in the forecast, disease monitoring, and keeping an eye on weed pressure should come back into focus. Between corn, soybeans, and wheat I have seen little to no disease to this point in the season which is a great start with how wet April was.

If I could describe the growing season in one word, it would be variable. Varying planting dates, emergence dates, growth stages within the same fields of corn and soybeans. We are seeing ranges of anywhere from stuggling to emerge, to 3rd trifoliate or V3 in corn within many fields across the area. Hopefully the rain will even these patches across the fields over time, but some significant differences are being seen across corn and soybeans.

Wheat is in early feekes 11 or ripening stage. Fields look healthy with little disease, and the weather has progressed the crop nicely as they begin to enter senescence.

Thats all for this week, and we shall see what sort of rain we get in the next week!

Soybeans vary from V2 to V5 in general, with some fields showing the effects of early crusted soils and reduced emergence in those areas. Tall waterhemp has reached the 4-inch stage by the middle of the week. Corn varies from V2 to V7. All the crops have good color in spite of it being dry for the past 14 days. NOAA shows that the 3-county area has 2 to 3 inches below average rainfall over the past 2 weeks. Grass is browning in the lawns.
First cutting hay is being made. Sidedressing of corn is wrapping up, and post-emergent herbicide applications are in full swing.