Some side-dressing is still occurring on later planted corn, and beans are currently being sprayed. Some are struggling to finish wheat harvest due to the wet weather we keep getting. Not all areas have been affected similarly with rain, but the range is between just enough and too much to the point of creating drowned out low areas; we have not experienced much dry weather this season. A lot of corn is tasseling and fungicide applications are due to begin if they haven’t already, with no insect or disease issues yet being reported. With the consistent wet weather we’ve been experiencing, it is recommended to scout regularly for occurrence of disease.

A very, welcomed inch of rain came last week and crops have been relieved from drought stress. Even though the extreme heat has ceased, the humidity is high. Diseases such as Septoria brown spot in soybeans and gray leaf spot in corn have started to show on lower leaves. Japanese beetle feeding has increased. April planted corn is almost pollinated and soybeans are R3.

The cooler, wet weather is conducive for disease production. Monitor for disease species and sign of progression. Many fields are close to optimum fungicide application timing.

Not much has changed in the way of crop growth across Logan, Menard, and Sangamon counties over the last week. Nearly all of the earlier-planted corn has tasseled, with the rest of the corn crop not too far behind in some areas. Soybean growth remains strong as well. Some insect damage can be found on leaves, but nothing that will affect yields at this moment.

This past week I had the opportunity to travel a larger area of northern Illinois. Generally, both corn and soybean crops appear to be in good shape. This comes as somewhat of a surprise when considering what the crop has endured to this point (near midway) in the growing season. Earliest planted crops include R1 corn and R2 soy. In recent trips across the countryside, I see acres of soy and often come across a field that from a windshield survey appears to be suffering from dicamba drift, so much so that I stop and visit the field. I recognize that we are far removed from the June 12th application deadline of Soy dicamba chemistry and most post corn applications. Yet the HG 4 (growth regulator) symptoms are showing up on new trifoliate leaves in many northern Illinois fields. Some fields I know, and most I expect, are Enlist beans. Why are we still getting the wrinkling and white tipped leaves? This may turn into an insect year, while scouting this week my checklist included Western corn rootworm beetles, Northern corn rootworm beetles, Bean leaf beetles, Japanese beetles, Potato leafhoppers and Grasshopper nymphs.

The rainfall has been quite variable across my 3-county area with some areas receiving less than 25% of normal and other areas with near-normal precipitation. In the dry areas, crops are showing the moisture stress in the heat of the day. Early planted corn is in the R! stage, silking. Wheat harvest is done and double-crop soybean planting is finished, this is early for my part of the state.