A warm and mostly dry week for growing crops (and weeds). Several mid to high eighty-degree days pushed corn from V3 last week to V5. At V5, all of the embryonic leaves and ears have been initiated in the corn plant, and its growing point (meristem) will soon be above ground. The warm weather also pushed the soy crop, last week a no-till soy field at VE has reached nearly V1 with the first set of trifoliates unfurling. I would be remiss if I did not share that the great growing weather also benefitted weeds as well. Several species, especially waterhemp are matching the crops quickened growth. In this region, most planting has finished and farmers are taking advantage of the rain free forecast to harvest the first hay cutting.
Over the years I have made numerous trips from Grundy County to the University of Illinois campus. My most frequent route includes a stretch of Route 47 straight south to Interstate 74. Yesterday I made the trip and wanted to share my windshield observations. I noted several agronomy practices that seem to be picking up in frequency, they include sidedressing corn with liquid nitrogen, no-tilling soy into a standing cereal rye cover crop, and a growing number of winter wheat acres in rotation. It will be interesting to follow these fields and practices as the growing season progresses.

The month of May has had only 3 to 4 days suitable for field work due to frequent rains. Heavy soaking rain of 2.4 inches on May 19-20 left fields completely saturated and soft. Very few drying days through Memorial Day, as skies remained overcast and temperatures cool. But temperatures are now increasing and close to normal, which is starting to drive some rapid crop growth (along with weeds!). Early beans are showing some patchy yellow discoloration that appears to be connected with wet spots during tillage and aggravated by excessive rainfall. Early corn has reached V5 to V7 and is taking off rapidly. Saw a few sprayers going on Memorial Day and several more the day after. Corn planted in the window of May 15 still has not emerged or is emerging uneven due to excessive moisture, no sun and cool temps. Replant operations should commence this week, as needed. Soft red winter wheat is filling grain but showing apparent barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) affecting flag leaves in clusters. Also, some head scab in the wheat, even where fungicide was applied at flowering. A little sunshine and warmer temperatures forecasted ahead should help everything improve!

The southern half of Champaign County has received more rain in the past month than the north half of the county and is therefore just a bit behind in overall crop progress. As I conducted my survey on Tuesday afternoon, the majority of fields had emerged crop, but most were still in early growth stages with few fields beyond V4 for either corn or soybean. The few wheat fields I saw were in the later stages of flowering (Feekes 10.5.2 – 10.5.4) or just moving into ripening (Feekes 11.1). Dryer conditions this past week have allowed for planting to continue and near completion in that part of the county. In the southeast part of the county in particular, I saw several areas of fields that were drowned out and have been replanted or will soon need a replant, but these areas were generally small and not too widespread. So far, the forecast for next week is looking dry and a bit warmer, which should help most farmers finish up planting and POST herbicide applications on early-planted fields.

We were able to plant our last soybean field on May 14 in between rains. It rained 1 to 2 inches after these were planted, with most of the rain on Monday, May 18th. These soybeans were just starting to emerge and we will need to wait another week before we can start taking plant populations. Nearby corn was at V3, with stands looking good. Wheat harvest will be 1 to 2 weeks earlier than normal this year. A few plants were showing signs of fusarium head blight or head scab. Fungicides should have been applied at early flowering (anthesis – anthers are present) or as late as 5 to 7 days after flower for disease suppression. Some pre and post herbicide applications taking place on dryer or tiled ground.

Planting is over 90% completed in my three-county area. The rains of the past week brought anywhere from nearly 3 inches of rain in the southern portions to just over 1/2 inch in the NE portion. Generally, the emerged crops look good, but areas of some fields are showing uneven emergence due to soil crusting. In an effort to get fields planted ahead of the May 15 rains, some fields were tilled when the soil was too wet, and they are now experiencing weed control problems due to incomplete control of emerged weeds.

Overall, planting is close to finished across more of northern Illinois. Field work over the last two weeks has been non-stop, and most fields I saw were either planted or just beginning to emerge, whether that was corn or soybeans. After a wild and wet April, May has been very dry and unusually cool, with a few late spring overnight frosts. Some of the early plantings of corn and soybeans were showing some slight damage, but nothing that they wouldn’t grow out of.

As I mentioned, May has been very dry so far, with many of the major storms going south and hitting central and southern Illinois. Parts of northern Illinois have slipped back into a very mild drought, and we should continue to monitor that as we finish with May and enter the summer months. With planting being delayed and most crops just emerging, the season is a bit behind last year. Some concerns to watch will be pressure from weeds depending on when pre-emergent herbicides were applied, but otherwise we are off and running on another season.

The coming weeks will be more eventful as crops begin to take off, and it will hopefully be a smooth and productive season!