At this point it’s becoming a broken record of leading off with drought conditions. Plants have slowed their growth and corn is rolling. Soybeans wanted to shift gears into the rapid growth stage, but will be limited in dry areas. Carryover in soybeans continues to show up.

Corn will reach tassel in 1 to 2 weeks. Soybeans will reach R3 in 1 to 2 weeks. Japanese beetles are moving in on field edges. Post herbicide applications have taken place in soybeans.

Fingers crossed for Sunday’s predicted forecast.

I’ve started to receive a few reports of damage from early season caterpillar pests, including true armyworm, black cutworm, and variegated cutworm. Concentrate your scouting efforts on fields that border wheat, other small grains, or had a grass cover crop for armyworm, and fields that had sub-optimal winter annual weed control or a legume cover crop for the cutworm species. If you find larvae, note the sizes – larger (> 1 inch) larvae do the most damage, but are also the closest to pupating and “cycling out” of the damaging stage. Populations of larvae with mixed sizes or that include predominantly smaller larvae will be with us for longer.

Excellent soybean field under irrigation near Valmeyer (Monroe County). High yield potential and probably one of the best weed management programs I have seen this season.

Many areas in Northeastern Illinois are experiencing a level of drought conditions. Corn is wrapping in some fields during the day in response to temperatures and lack of moisture. Soybean growth has slowed and most are hoping for more favorable conditions before applying post herbicides in this crop. When applied under the dry conditions post corn herbicide conditions were less than ideal. We encourage growers to evaluate the effectiveness of the applications within 1 to 2 weeks. Wheat in the area appears to be hastening to maturity, it may be an early wheat harvest in northern Illinois.