Much like many areas of the state, northwest Illinois has received plenty of rainfall in the past couple of weeks, but there have still been enough dry days that have allowed for decent planting conditions. About 10-15% of fields in this area have visibly emerging corn, and planting is still ongoing. Low spots in some fields do have some standing water.

Conditions in central to southeast Vermilion County are a little dryer than we are a bit further west in Champaign County. I did not see any ponded areas in fields during my transect, although there were some low areas that were a bit on the muddy side. In that part of the county, approximately 30% of fields have emerged and another 30% has been recently planted. Of what has emerged, fields tended to be fairly evenly split between corn and soybeans, with possibly a few more corn acres out of the ground. Of the remainder, most no-till ground has been sprayed, with a few exceptions. Emerged corn and soy fields ranged from VE to V1-2 for corn and VE to VC for soybeans. I did stumble upon a couple wheat fields, both of which appeared to be at full flower or just past. I also found several cover crop fields in the south-central part of the county, most of which had been terminated a week or two prior. The remaining cover crop fields I saw were likely recently sprayed or on the docket to be done soon, as I saw one rig running and the operator hoping for the rains to hold off a bit longer.

Rains over the last few days have prevented farmers from finishing planting their crop acres for 2024. The National Weather Service in Lincoln reported 0.38” of rain in the last 24 hours, and many low spots on fields have standing water. More rain is predicted for 5/7 and 5/8. Much of the soybeans and corn that were planted in mid-April have emerged. Soybeans in the area are in the VE growth stage, while corn in the area is in the VE to V1 growth stage.

Early this morning, a storm went through and left 7 tenths of an inch of rain at the Orr Research Center outside of Perry, IL. Many crop acres were planted early to mid April and appear to be doing well. Corn that was planted the week of April 8 is at the V1-V2 growth stage while soybeans planted that same week have their unifoliate leaves unrolled.

Most acres still unplanted. This V4 corn is by far the largest I’ve seen. Other emerged corn is spiking-V2 at most. Have seen no beans emerged yet.

Reports of alfalfa weevil have been coming in pretty consistently for the last several weeks; we’ve now received reports as far north as Rockford. If you haven’t already, it’s a good idea to scout your alfalfa – look for defoliation (alfalfa weevil is the most likely culprit at this early stage) and confirm the continued presence of the small, green larvae before taking action. If you have a serious infestation and are in position to do so, consider cutting early to reduce the potential for further damage. Insecticide options are somewhat limited, and failures with lambda-cyhalothrin have been reported this spring.