Our area still continues to be dry. A few areas have got spot showers, but most have only left a tenth or two at most which only brings some short-term relief. Overall, crops do look fairly good for the lack of moisture, but week to week growth is slow with limited water. Crops do show some stress in the middle of sunny days especially with the fairly low humidity levels, but recover during the evening. The driest areas are still in the central part of the county only having received a 0.5″ of rain in the last two months. Wheat is rapidly drying down, I have not seen any harvest yet, but do expect to see some combines starting to roll in the next week if the weather pattern stays the same. Here’s to another week hoping for more widespread rain for all that need it the most!

Corn is showing symptoms of stress due to the high temperatures and no precipitation the last three-four weeks. Beans were planted May 19th and have emerged. The beans have received no precipitation since planting.

Fall armyworm activity in V3-4 corn no-tilled into small grain residue. Treatment threshold met, treated Monday June 5.

West Central IL and Northeast MO is dry. We are starting to see symptoms of drought. Corn is starting to roll and seeing some signs of nutrient deficiencies due to poor uptake on lighter acres. Northeast MO has several acres of soybeans laying in dry dirt not germinated.

Conditions are dry across northern Illinois depending on the spotty pop up showers. Many soybeans planted from May 9-15 were challenged in no-till fields due to dry conditions and tightening soils. The key is to ensure good seed to soil contact and keep row cleaners working well in no-till environments.

Many areas have slipped into the moderate drought classification. With 95° weather on the horizon, this will intensify very rapidly. Corn and soybeans both are showing the stress. Growers are worried about adding additional stress by post spraying. Herbicide carryover is beginning to be obvious with lack of moisture. Corn seems to passing from primary to nodal root system. Some fields have very awkward and ugly areas. Soybeans look to have started fixing nitrogen from nodules as many fields are to starting to get good color to the leaves.