Corn:  Early dent to ½ starch line

There has been only one day in August that hit 90 degrees or above and that was August 1^st according to our tracking.  Right now, we are tracking 4-6 days short on heat units from last year.  The mid-April planted corn is about ½ starch line; corn planted in later May is starting to dent or just about to.  We’ve had 5-10” of rain this month it has been too much for some low areas but a lot of dryland acres look really good for the tough July they had.

With all that rain, we’ve saved a lot of irrigating.  Temps are supposed to be a little warmer this coming week; growers sure aren’t going to want to hear the news to make a final pass of water on some fields. Corn is looking a lot more normal this year than last year with far less erratic pollination, banana ears, etc.  We are seeing a lot of 16-18 around by mid 30’s long ear dimensions out there. 

Some corn leaf aphids have shown up but they’ll cycle out sooner than later, and we aren’t going to see major issues with them.  Diseases are slowing down, at this date even on the latest corn we’re going to have to be okay.   

Soybeans:  mid pod fill to late full seed

In the last week the first 2.4 maturity beans planted by May 10 look like their season is about done.  Some dryland hillsides just starting to show some color turning.  The June planted beans have aborted some pods you find a few little ones on the ground now.  We’ll have to keep checking them probably a couple weeks yet. If we can keep the sun out for a little bit, they’ll get filled out and be acceptable.  A lot of irrigated beans have lodging that ranges from a little to way too much. We’ll see with all this rain we’ve had if that pays off or not as the dryland beans look good right now. 

SDS and white mold are showing up in some of the lodged beans.  It came up pretty suddenly from one week to the next.  Hopefully what showed up last week will be the bulk of it.  It appears to be staying limited to the furthest along beans and giving the later ones a chance.  All this cooler weather prevented the soybean aphids from ever really getting going, which is always a positive.

Corn: Dough to 1/8 starch.

Surely has been a more challenging year with cool wet soils delaying spring planting/replant, to a summer drought with high heat, and then cooler weather in the 70’s delaying growth the past few weeks. Mother Nature continues to amaze us with her challenges this year. After the cool wet spring, extremely hot and dry June and now almost month of temperate grain fill, most of the corn looks really good. We received a couple good rains the past few weeks which saved a lot of dryland yield. Disease pressure has continues to be a hit or miss on fields. Grey leaf spot has been increasing in pressure, which most of those fields got a fungicide/insecticide application after first signs of southern rust. Western bean cutworm has been a problem as we have still been finding new egg masses as of last week. Once again, the rootworm beetle has proven challenging on some of the continuous corn on corn fields. With some of these late rains, we are looking at wrapping up irrigation soon as this corn progresses in stage.

Soybeans: Early to Full Seed.

Water usage has backed way down the past few weeks. With 95+ degree temps a few weeks ago and now with the cool temps, a few guys are still a little too eager to water which has been causing some lodging issues as beans are remaining stress free and putting on a lot of growth. We were seeing several replant areas within the fields that were struggling to keep up several weeks ago that are now starting to turn around and look better. The beans could now use some more heat to help push things along. Insect pressure seems to be heavier this year than past years. Quite a few of our fields were treated with a fungicide/insecticide application. The yield bumps have made this an economical decision.

Corn is mostly late dough to dent.

 We look at a lot of fields that were treated post tassel with fungicide and insecticide. We didn’t see many western bean cutworm egg counts over 3-4% but still have seen escapes in the ear tips.  Several of the continuous corn or corn fields we check had high rootworm beetle numbers. But a timely beetle bomb controlled those issues pretty well. We are seeing some disease pressure increase on those non-treated fields, particularly with southern rust, northern corn leaf blight and grey leaf spot.   In a lot of places ears and kernel counts look good. If it finishes, we should see good corn come harvest..

Soybeans early to late pod fill. 

Water use has really backed off with the cool temperatures.  It’s been hard to not overwater.  It seems the fungicide treated beans are really looking good in terms of plant health, and those with an insecticide are really clipping along nicely. We are seeing a little bit of sudden death syndrome showing up in places and white mold has also become more prevalent. We continue to see bean leaf beetles, grasshoppers, mites and aphids adding defoliation to the crop. We are still looking at some fields where a treatment makes sense.

Corn is dough to early dent stage

Recent cool weather has really slowed down irrigation as crop water usage is well below normal for this time of year. Southern rust came in early again this year but hasn’t made a severe impact yet. Most fungicides and insecticides went out several weeks back once southern rust started rearing up. Spidermites have been an issue along the Nebraska-Kansas border working up toward the interstate this year and have really started to move into bean fields the last couple of weeks. Spidermites in the corn have been held down pretty well by the fungicide/insecticide treatments. Disease pressure looks to be holding off pretty well for the most part. It seems at this point, the crop is progressing faster than the leaf diseases. Bacterial leaf streak can be found spreading through fields with lesion sizes elongating and moving to the upper canopy. This will be sometime we continue to monitor.

Soybeans are R4 to R5 stage.

Spidermites have spread to the beans over the last couple of weeks. Most our fields that were sprayed with an insecticide have held the spidermites out pretty well. We have seen a few fields that were not sprayed and the insect pressure has blown up, well above threshold requiring rescue treatments. The thistle caterpillars have been pretty heavy this year and have caused a decent amount of defoliation in some fields. Luckily in most cases they recently have cycled out. Cooler temperatures and a few spotty rains have helped keep the crop water usage lower than usual in the beans as well. Disease pressure is holding pretty low in the area so far.

Corn: Milk to Dough Stage.

Pollination went pretty well for the most part throughout the area but there seems to be a few more aborted kernels per ear than normal on some hybrids, and fairly average tip back across hybrids. Spidermites showed up early this year and caused some damage. Japanese beetles also are  pretty heavy in certain areas this year and caused some fairly heavy silk clipping once ears were pollinated. We seem to have lucked out though, because they didn't go hard after silks until mostly everything got pollinated. Southern rust is now showing up in many fields and fungicide treatments are holding it back pretty well. We are just starting to slow irrigation down this week as we had a very hot and dry July that kept most pivots moving over the last month.

Soybeans: R2-R5 Stage.

Spidermites have spread through bean fields over the last week in our southern geography and have started stippling the upper leaves. We also continue to see some feeding from grasshoppers, bean leaf beetles, thistle caterpillars and clover worm rising to economic thresholds for treatments. Irrigation has picked up in the last week as pods are starting to fill. We have seen some fields with offsite spray injuries and are working through those situations as they arise. On the whole, the bean crop looks promising, and the cooler weather from the last week has been a major positive for all crops.

Corn: Blister to Late Milk Stage

Some of the shorter season/early planted corn is starting to push soft dough. Heat the last couple weeks has really pushed development along quickly but overall pollination has still been decent for the majority. A few specific hybrids or later planted ones that finished pollinating last week in the heat and humidity have a few more skips than normal in the body of ears and 1-2” mostly unpollinated on the tips. Girth in the majority of hybrids I check is very good this year and more moderate temps in the forecast should help with kernel retention. Disease pressure has picked up with all the humidity, other than a few corn/corn fields with heavy GLS, it has overall been light to moderate but starting to get above the ear leaf on all but the most resistant hybrids. Fungicides applied just after tassel are holding well. We have been starting to find traces of southern rust in the lower canopy throughout the area on both treated and untreated fields, but have not seen it explode yet. Spider mites along with some pockets of Japanese beetle pressure have been the main insects of concern, I’ve not had to deal with rootworm beetles as I don’t have much long term corn/corn. Bifenthrin applications with the fungicides have done well to so far suppress and knock back the mites unless pressure was heavy already.

Soybeans: R3 to R4

Beginning to full pod stage now with narrow row beans finally fully canopied in the last 10-14 days, some 30” rows nearing canopy closure and 36” rows still a ways to go with the cool early weather keeping majority of beans shorter than normal this season. Overall pod development is progressing quickly with all the heat and looks pretty good. Disease has been very light, mainly bacterial leaf blight, traces of brown spot and frogeye leaf spot. I’ve not found any SDS yet but am hearing reports from others that it is starting to show up. Grasshoppers have been heavy on some edges along with more thistle caterpillars than normal this year, though they are starting to cycle out. Some pockets east of Hwy 77 have Japanese beetles feeding but defoliation has not gotten to threshold yet. Main concern has been to the southern parts of my area where it has stayed dry and mites have started to flair up in the soybeans. Fields near hay, heavily traveled gravel roads, and lighter soils are showing more pressure first with 2 fields already needing treatment. No aphids have been found yet.

Corn: V14 to Early Blister.

The heat and humidity the last week have really pushed corn along rapidly. A lot of corn is pollinating right now and temperatures are and will be in the mid to upper 90s. So far the early pollinating corn looks good. We are starting to see areas that are missing some of these rains and as a consequence the dryland corn is beginning to show a lot of water stress. We have not seen a lot of disease yet but there are traces of grey leaf spot, common rust and a little northern corn leaf blight showing up now. Also some bacterial leaf streak has also been showing up. Western bean cutworm has become a bigger problem this year. Rootworm beetles have also made a comeback on the corn on corn acres. Many of the single stack rootworm trait packages are showing little effectiveness against the rootworm larvae and as a result several fields have high beetle numbers if an insecticide was not used in the seed slice at planting.

Soybeans: Mid Bloom to Early Pod Set.

Finally getting some beans to canopy on 30 inch rows. Again this year dealing with the waterhemp and palmer pigweeds have been the biggest challenge. Layering residuals has been the most effective method of control. The fields that were not sprayed in a timely manner are easy to pick out with poor control. We have seen some fields affected by sprayer drift this year. So far none have been killed but it has made for some ugly looking spots in fields. Currently, there has not been much disease in the beans but there has been a lot of insect damage. Once again, grasshoppers continue to be a challenge causing defoliation. We have also seen some other insect issues including thistle caterpillars. Irrigation is getting into full swing on the beans starting to set pods.

Corn: V12-R1

The corn is coming along nicely. It will be starting to tassel in most areas this week and a few of the farthest along fields should be starting to shed pollen. Some of the Xanthomonas bacterial leaf streak has been showing up on hailed fields as well as some light Northern Corn Leaf Blight and Goss’s Wilt on a handful of fields. We have had some spotty  hail damage that opened the canopy back up again, but overall the area has been fortunate not to have had a lot of storm damage. Insect pressure has been light for the most part other than a few heavy rootworm fields. Male rootworm beetles started emerging in the past 7-10 days. Western bean cutworm moth counts are high to the west, but we have only found a few egg masses  in fields locally. Absent rain this week, most pivots will be making a pass this week..

Soybeans: 6^th Trifoliate-Full Bloom

A few of the better fields should be starting to canopy on 30” rows with the majority still 10 days away. We had a few fields get a second round of spray in the last week in an effort to clean up escapes of palmer and water hemp. In some extreme cases, we’ve had a few small patches that required that required weed removal by hand. Small patches this year turn into huge problems moving forward. Insect pressure and disease pressure remain light. We did have a few border treatments for grasshoppers and we keep the eye out for diseases in the coming weeks.

Corn: V11-V15

Overall the corn throughout the area looks good; stands are better than the last couple years with fewer early heavy rains and the majority should begin tasseling in the next 7-10 days. We’ve had some significant rain across the north part of our geography the last week, ranging from 1.5 to 4” while the south part as had 1-2 inches. We’ve had some small areas of light greensnap in the last 2 weeks from storms, but much of the corn damage has just been light from hail. Fertigation is being applied in between rains where possible as the majority of my corn has still not needed the first full watering pass. Weed control in the corn is good unless it was sprayed late. Disease pressure has been very low so far with little for common rust and GLS; however, with the humid days and rains, we’re expecting it to increase quickly as the corn on corn acres were showing a lot more in the lower leaves at the end of last week. Insects have been light overall as well, though grasshoppers are moving in off the field borders in our southern geography along with some light spider mites starting to be found in that area also. We have seen a couple pockets where Japanese beetles have started to show up more. We’ll be watching these closely for silk clipping over the next few weeks.

Soybeans: V5 to R2

Most of my soybeans are just starting to bloom with the 15” rows starting to close the rows as well, 20-36” rows still have a long way to go before canopy in this area with slowed early growth. Many soybean fields have had some light hail damage with one field having 60-70% defoliation 2 weeks ago. That fields is now starting to come back with an adequate stand. Disease and insect pressure has been light so far, mainly just some bacterial blight where there was more storm damage, as well as traces of early frogeye leaf spot scattered across the geography. Couple fields have started to get some heavier grasshoppers on the edges and growers may be looking at a border treatment once it dries out. We have a number of fields we are fighting Palmer Amaranth and control there has been decent on anything <3” unless it was under residue.

Corn: V7-V14

Warm weather across much of May and June have pushed the corn along quickly, with 2 leaves per week growth in most fields over the past month. We may not see many tassels on the 4^th of July this year, but the week after should have quite a few of the early planted fields pushing tassels. So far the corn looks good, a few timely rains in the early vegetative stages covered up most of the sins at planting. Post sprays overall were pretty effective, it seems like the PRE’s held back weed pressure better than in the past couple years. Disease and insect pressure have been low so far, southern parts of the territory have some scattered common rust and GLS. So far, we have not had to run very many pivots with the exception of trying to soften crust layers for emergence. 

Soybeans: V1-R1

Soybean planting dragged out this year due to a few heavy rain events. Most fields ended up with decent stands, although some fields had beans emerging for upwards of 2 weeks. The early planted beans were slow growing early on, but now are starting to bloom and look quite a bit better. Later planted beans generally came out of the ground quickly and have much better early growth with the warmer temps. Most fields have already had a post spray recommendation, and early posts showed decent success. Rotation restrictions have forced recommendations to switch chemical plans to clean up waterhemp and pigweeds. We have seen more consistent results with a couple post PPO inhibitors as long as the applicator is pushing at least 15 gpa of water out there.

Corn-V5-V10 stage.  

Corn is starting to finally gain some height and green in the last week.  With this, corn is starting to hide some of the trouble areas of the field. We have seen some cool aerial imagery that still shows some of that vegetative stress, and we can be sure we'll see some of it on the yield monitor as well.  The majority of the corn has been post sprayed with pretty good results. A few problem weeds do remain in some fields. Insect and disease pressure has been low so far, but we are finding some light anthracnose leaf blight on some continuous corn on corn fields.

https://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/crop-diseases/corn/anthracnose.html

Beans-Unifoliate-V5

Beans are finally starting to branch out and some are starting to close the row in the narrow row fields.  Some bean field were a struggle to get out of the ground due to heavy crust. We've had a couple heavier soil fields we had to water up to 3 times earlier to get a decent stand.   Bean leaf beetle feeding has been light but some can be found in a lot of the fields.  Frogeye has been the only early season disease found so far. A lot of post spray recommendations have had hotter mix of chemicals with the hope of keeping weed resistance under control. 

Corn: V5-V8

Summer certainly seems to be upon us with the return of hot days, which is bad news for the air conditioner.  However, the corn seems to be enjoying it as it is starting to push roots down in the side-dressed nitrogen and deeper into the soil profile.  Some producers have started to get worried with the hot and windy days and fired up pivots prior to the rains in the last week, even though there is moisture in root zone.  It’s important to start moisture probing, and know where the corn roots are at this time of year, and avoid unnecessary irrigation.  Post spray are approaching the final stretch, and we seem to have gotten pretty good control of some of those problem weeds on this second pass.  Insect activity has been low with a few armyworm this spring, but now is the time we will start monitoring for rootworm feeding.

Soybeans: Unifoliate – V3.

Soybeans are finally all out of the ground.  There were a good chunk of beans that got planted before the last week of rainy weather in May, which led to crusting challenges. As a result some of the bean fields we check have already had a pivot run more than once on them.  Despite those challenges, most stands are pretty good, with a few instances of replant resulting from either crusting or PPO injury. Post sprays are going like crazy in the beans. With these last rains and the heat, the weeds are growing more aggressively than the crops. Be out there checking to make sure your post program will take care of the weeds you have. If you can’t let us know and we will. 

Corn- V1-V6

The corn has started growing rapidly with a lot of it adding two leaves in the past week. The weather has recently turned hot and dry allowing for some much-needed root growth. Plant color continues to improve from the pale color it had to start. A lot of side dress and top dress nitrogen applications are starting to go out this week on the larger corn. Most of my side dress nitrogen applications are going out with 5 gallons of ammonium thiosulfate along with the UAN. The people applying dry product are typically running 100 lb/acre of AMS with 200 lb/acre of Urea. The pre-emerge corn herbicides seem to be holding better this year. A few marestail disaster fields got an early shot of DiFlexx which seemed to work well. Some early post spraying has gone out already using either Halex GT or Resicore with glyphosate. Many post emerge herbicides will be going on next week using some formulation of glyphosate and an HPPD of some sort.

Beans- Germinating-3^rd trifoliate

So far, it’s looking like our April planted beans are doing the best. Overall, stands are not going to be the best in soybean fields this year. There was stand loss from PPO herbicide injury on the earlier planted beans that emerged during the cool wet conditions. A fair amount of the later planted beans had issues with soil crusting and there have been a lot of pivots running in the past week on bean fields to help improve stands. The bean pre-emerges continue to hold well for the most part, but will likely start to see some break down as soon as we get another rain on them. We have several Xtend bean fields with heavy marestail pressure that got sprayed late with a full rate of Xtendimax and Fierce XLT, we are estimating only about 85-90 percent control of the marestail. A lot of them showed some regrowth last check and will likely have to be hit again with another shot of Xtendimax. We recommend starting to layer a soil residual product in the next couple weeks on problem fields.

Corn: V1 to V5

In the last week, the corn was pretty yellow from the cool wet weather but has really greened up during the last couple warm days.  Post spray applications are well under way.  Most fields will be getting some formulation of a glyphosate, diflufenzopyr and dicamba, especially in cases of marestail and pigweed. Talk with your consultant to find the best product mix for your needs. No other major concern out in the corn fields since last week.

Soybeans: In the Bag to V3

We had one field of soybeans that had emerged when the temperature dropped to 27 degrees and only had about 1 percent that died.  Soybeans are tough; plant them early!  This last week we saw a fair amount of herbicide injury from the cool wet weather. Basically any field that had a PPO herbicide as a pre-emergence herbicide produced some injury on emerging soybeans.  For the most part, these fields seem to be coming out of it, and very few fields will need to be replanted.  Pre-emerge herbicides have been working well and most fields will not need to be sprayed for a couple weeks.

Corn: VE to V5

Stand counts over the past week have been fairly good considering the cool, wet weather we have faced. Some of the corn planted early in April is looking better compared to the corn planted in May. The health and color of the corn has been pale this week due to cool temperatures and wet soil. We have seen some saturated bottom areas with corn dampening off, but this hasn't been a big concern yet. Pre-emerges seem to be holding down the weed pressure well. With the cool temperatures there hasn't been much insect activity to note.  Post applications will be going out soon.

Soybeans: In the Bag to V3.

About 80 percent of the soybeans that we scout have been planted. The rain over the past few weeks has limited guys on the amount of beans they could plant.  The beans that have emerged are starting to unroll the unifoliate leaves with no major emergence issues due to rain softening up the surface for easy emergence. About 10-15% of beans we will look at this summer are Extend beans.

Post spray applications are right around the corner.  An important component to post spray efficacy is chemical/adjuvant mixing order.  A useful phone app for tank mixing is “Mix Tank” from Precision Laboratories.

Corn: VE to V4

Soybeans: In the bag to V2

The main challenge we have been dealing with the last few weeks is corn and beans that were planted before cold temps came in.  Soils were chilled back down to 40 degrees.  Chilling injury has been the big concern caused when the crops pulled in cold water in the first 24-48 hours after planting.  Majority of the stands planted in this time frame are ending up acceptable.  A bigger cause of poorer stands is actually crusting in the area.  There will be a lot of poorer stands blamed on the soil temps and chilling injury when it actually is due to crusting soil. 

Corn-Germination to V2

The corn crop in Southeast NE went in early and overall pretty quickly, but the cold weather and freeze has delayed all our crops.  We did not accumulate any growing degree units for 5 days the entire last week of April.  And in that time period we also received just under 3” of rain.  Crusting has been a slight problem but we expect to see more this week because of the hot weather and strong winds.  Combine that with wet clay soils and it could be rough.  The corn ranges from early sprout to V2 and we are starting to see some nice green tissue above ground after the freeze.  So far it appears that strip till looks the best.

Soybeans: In the bag to Unifoliate

Planting on the bean crop is progressing rapidly, and planters are starting to roll again.  The beans look pretty healthy despite the cold temperatures that they have experienced and should have no problem emerging. We’ve seen some beans planted into some pretty tough situations, wet clay soils, but light showers last week seem to be helping. Thundershowers in the forecast for the coming days make crusting a potential watch out.  Overall weed control looks good so far.

Corn- ½ to ¾ starch line

Corn is continuing to progress and starch lines are moving past the half way mark. Most of the pivots I look at have shut down pivots for the season. Scattered rains helped finish off the corn for the season with good moisture. Some later planted and longer season corn is closer to ¼ starch line and will still need additional moisture. Growers will want to make sure their fields have enough moisture to fully finish out the corn for the season. The last pass or 2 are very important for test weight and overall yield.

Soybeans- Full seed to Beginning maturity

Short season beans from 2.4 to 3.0 maturity beans are beginning to turn and last pivot passes are being made. Longer season beans from 3.4 to 3.9 are continuing to fill pods. Sudden death syndrome is continuing to show up in larger pockets through fields this week. Other diseases are staying fairly light but starting to see an increase over the last couple weeks. Frogeye leaf spot, brown spot, and bacterial diseases are all present. Aphids seem pretty scattered still and not finding heavily pressured fields. Bean leaf beetles are continuing to increase and causing a good amount of defoliation with some pod feeding as well. Some later maturity beans are being monitored pretty closely to see if treatment is still warranted.

Ryan Busboom

Corn- 1/4 to 2/3 Starch Line

Corn has continued to develop rapidly this last week with many fields getting into the 1/3 to early 1/2 starch line stage and needing 2.25 to 3” moisture total to finish the season. Some scattered rains late last week over my eastern area have allowed a few pivots to be shut down for the season while the majority of fields will have their last pass applied late this week/early next week if they don’t catch a rain. This last pass can be very important to maintain test weight/yield, especially on tougher clay soils. Cooler evenings have allowed for good grain fill overall and kernel depth is good. Greensnapped/lodged plants from earlier storms are a little behind in stage and don’t have quite as deep of kernels due to the stress. Southern rust has picked up in a lot of fields this last week and is more light-moderate in the mid canopy on fields in some areas. Goss’ Wilt where found earlier in the season is now starting to shut down some plants where it is worse in pockets of fields. GLS on weaker rated hybrids can now be found to the tops of plants and I am finding a few fields with some anthracnose top dieback and/or early stalk rot in lowest 1-2 nodes shutting plants down early. These will be susceptible to lodging this fall and should be made priority for early harvest. Earworm have pretty well cycled out and spider mites have been killed off by early development of a fungus that comes on in August. Otherwise there are no new insect issues.

Soybeans- R5.5 Mid Fill to R6 Full Seed

Soybeans in group 2.4-2.5 planted early are reaching full seed and just a few leaves can be found starting to turn, beans at this stage need about 3” moisture to finish the season so last watering pass will be made this next week. 3.0 to 3.9 maturity beans are more in the early to late mid pod fill stage at this time and still have a lot of seed development left. Where more rain was received this spring, some fields have gotten tall and are lodging which could slow harvest a bit. Majority of the beans are still standing well at this time. I’ve had a couple fields that have experienced more bacterial blight and bacterial pustule than normal as it has moved in more across the top leaves this last week. Frogeye leaf spot is starting to show up in light amounts on some fields as well, but unless a longer variety, majority of beans are far enough along that treatment won’t be warranted this season. Brown spot has remained light on most fields but SDS is starting to show up in more pockets. I’ve had several fields treated with Illevo where SDS was heavy the last few years and it can still barely be found on these fields and looks to be working well. Aphids are pretty scattered and light and only found on a few fields at this time. Bean leaf beetle are mostly light other than a few fields where defoliation has increased and just starting to find some pod feeding. This last week has seemed to bring on more grasshoppers as well on some edges and pockets of certain fields and will need to be monitored on the later maturities for possible treatment.

Matt Wildman

Corn- hard dough-1/8 Starch-3/4 Starch

The corn has started to slow down slightly as the cooler more humid temps. These temps are great as the corn is filling the kernels. Tip back is still varied across the area. Later planted corn seems to be the most tip back, but you can also find it more in hybrid specific corn and stressed areas. Final irrigation is moving into the area. A few scattered areas have received some consistent rain to help finish out the early planted corn. On average corn across the area is around a 1/4-1/3 starch line still needing 3-3.75” of moisture to finish out. As we come to the end of the year for watering it can be easy to start to lay off the watering as farmers are ready to finish out the year and quit spending money, but ensuring there is enough moisture to finish out this heavily inputted corn is very important. Farmers did not work so hard throughout the summer to let it all start to move downhill as we reach the end of the season. Insect pressure is starting to drop off these past 2 weeks. The spider mites have started to die off naturally. A few ear worms can be found, but no major insect pressure is showing at this time. Diseases have also started to stall. GLS hasn’t really progressed past moderate at the ear leaf. Some fields can be found to be heavier in the lower 1/3 of the plants, but still not too crazy. Southern rust can be found moving slightly as new lesions can be found in the middle canopy this week. One main concern we have with this cooler wet weather is going to be stalk quality as we get closer to harvest. Knowing your stalk quality is very important for optimal harvest timing.

Soybeans: Mid fill-Full Seed

The soybeans are in full seed- mid seed fill across the different maturity beans. Lower season beans have worked into full seed with seeds touch across the upper most nodes. Later maturity beans are working through an early-mid fill this week. With rains and irrigation there are quite a few taller beans. Winds and rain from last week and showing in the fields as quite a few can be seen lodging. Bacterial leaf blight and Downey mildew can be found across the lower and middle canopy. Seeing more signs of SDS moving in this week. Insects feeding continues to be light. There has been a slight increase in leaf defoliation from the 2^nd generation of bean leaf beetles. Aphids are slowly starting to show up this week.

Dane Knudsen

Corn- Dough-1/8^th starch line

Corn continues to progress pretty quickly this year as starch lines are forming. Tip back overall isn’t too bad on most irrigated fields with the exception of a few hybrids. There are some dryland fields with quite a bit of tip back from not enough moisture. Corn is still using a fair amount of moisture but we are on the downhill slide of irrigation. Disease pressure continues to increase with southern rust being found in many fields. Only finding a few scattered fields that have fairly heavy pressure from southern rust. Most fields are seeing pretty light pressure. Overall insect pressure is holding light on most fields and spidermites have seemed to really drop off in the last week.

Soybeans- Early to Late pod fill

Soybeans are continuing to fill pods this week with some short season beans getting close to full seed. Most bean fields are standing pretty well but are starting to get tangled up a bit. Only have a few fields lodging real hard from being watered a little too much earlier in the growing season. Sudden death syndrome is starting to show up in fields that are known to have some pressure. ILevo seed treatment has looked very good this year again and seems to be holding SDS down really well. Other diseases are staying pretty light in the beans. Overall insect pressure is holding down pretty well as spidermites don’t seem to be spreading through any fields I scout. Grasshoppers and bean leaf beetles have seemed to be the main insect concern this year as they have caused some pretty heavy defoliation on scattered fields. Starting to see some pod clipping on fields that had some moderate pressure and didn’t get sprayed.

Ryan Busboom

Corn: Late Milk-R3 to Hard Dough/Beginning Dent-R4/R5

Heat and humidity have continued to push corn across the area along quickly and many fields are just now starting to dent on the kernels some. Tipback over the last week has increased on a few hybrids that didn’t handle the heat as well on both dryland and irrigated, can find some ears with up to 2.5-3” of tipback thought the majority are 1.5” or less. Scattered rains over the last 4-5 days have helped with anywhere from 0.20 to 1.5” being recorded. Humidity is keeping water use lower than normal still so it has been fairly easy to keep up irrigating in most areas, water use is also starting to decline with crop stage, ranging from 0.20-0.25”/day this week. Disease-Where treated, GLS has stayed ouf of the upper canopy as fungicides have held well, more susceptible untreated hybrids are starting to show light amounts of disease in the upper leaves. If later planted and disease continues to increase, monitoring standability come harvest will be needed. Southern rust has not yet blown up on anything I check and can be found in very light amounts on the lower leaves of some fields. Insects-where treated with Brigade, spider mites have been suppressed well and not moved up to the ear leaf yet. Where not treated, some fields are still only having mites found on the lower leaves while some are being found light at the ear leaf or a couple above with heavier pressures starting to yellow some lower leaves. Unless seeing a lot of leaf yellowing after dent stage, a treatment at this point likely won’t be economical. Earworm pressure has been light and I have not found much for western bean cutworm yet either.

Soybeans: Mid Pod-R3.5 to Beginning Seed/Fill-R5

Most soybeans have moved into full pod/beginning seed stage this week with later planted or 3.5 RM and above a little behind. Soybeans have overall progressed well and gotten to canopy nicely except for some of the wide rows that won’t canopy this season. With dry conditions early keeping beans short, most fields are standing well, though I have a few bottom fields that still got tall and are starting to lodge a little already. Short season varieties should move quickly through seed fill over the next 3 weeks and then start to decrease in water use. With humidity, majority of beans are using about 0.25”/day or a little less this week, but watering will continue to need monitoring through pod fill. Disease-frogeye leaf spot, septoria brown spot, downy mildew all remain in light pressures where found and phytophthora root rot has remained light as well on fields that have had issues in the past. SDS-sudden death syndrome has not yet been found but will likely start to show up in the next few weeks as pockets of plants with mid-upper leaves yellowing. Insects-bean leaf beetle, grasshopper, cucumber beetle, stinkbug are all being found in fields now but most remain at light pressure. A few fields with no seed treatment have had higher defoliation from bean leaf beetle, but nothing to treatable levels yet. Stem borer larvae are starting to be found now and these fields will need to be monitored for breakage/lodging near harvest. Aphids have been found in trace amounts along with spider mites starting to show up on a few fields in drier areas, these will need to be monitored in the next few weeks and treated with Brigade & Dimethoate if they increase.

Matt Wildman

Corn: Early Blister- Early Dough

High temperatures have really pushed things along quick as corn progressed through pollination last week. Pollination overall looks great across the area. A few scattered skips can be found along the ears, but nothing to worry about. Tip back is slightly varied due to hybrid, nutrient deficiencies, slight drought stress, and stress where winds lodged plants. Tip back varied from 1/4”-2.5” across the area. Irrigation: Water use is on the decline with an average of .28”water use per day. High temps continue to keep water use slightly higher. Even with water use on the decline it is important to not slow down and finish out irrigation strong. Disease: Diseases continue to be varied across the area. Crop rotation, hybrid, and plant damage all are factors. More resistant hybrids have held off GLS, Goss’s wilt, and northern corn leaf blight/spot well. Other hybrids have required a fungicide application as GLS and other diseases gain more pressure up/past the ear leaf. Finding more Goss’s wilt and northern corn leaf spot in torn leaves from weather damage. These areas have heavier pressure along the mid and upper canopy of the plants. Southern rust is still a concern throughout the area. Scattered sitings continue to keep everyone on their toes. Even on furthest along corn southern rust can still blow up and cause damage. We are still roughly 10 days or till hard dough when we cannot worry about southern rust. Insects: Rootworm beetle control has looked good across the areas with 1 pint of lorsban and 6.4 oz of brigade. Spider mites have been hanging around the lower 3 leaves the past couple weeks in scattered areas. Finding them start to gain heavier pressure in certain fields with mites found moderate above the ear leaf. At this time a 6.5 oz/ac of Brigade would be recommended to knock the mites down and help the corn finish out.

Spider Mites	TheProfiler

Soybeans: Mid pod-early Pod set.

Soybeans have progressed quickly with high temperatures. Soybeans progressed better as more height and width is seen across the fields. The majority of fields have canopied, but there is still a lot of beans sitting at 90-95% canopy. Plants overall look good.  Irrigation: Soybeans have surpassed corn this week and water usage is higher. On average soybeans are using .30” across the area. Keeping our soil moisture profile at adequate levels is very important as pods elongate and pods begin to fill. Disease: Beans continue to hold of disease well this year across the area. Finding light Bacterial leaf blight, Downey Mildew, and frogeye across lowest leaves. Frogeye is more prevalent in less resistant hybrids. Frogeye showed up more early this growing season and has fallen off as the season progressed. Insects: Soybean leaf feeding has been on average light this year. Bean leaf beetles, cucumber beetles, and grass hoppers show a 5-10% leaf defoliation across the majority of the acres. Scattered areas specifically around more grassy areas have seen a light heavier feeding from grasshoppers and have needed sprayed.

Dane Knudsen

Corn- Pollination to Milk

Corn is finishing up pollination with some further along corn in the milk to dough stage. Overall corn has really progressed nicely over the last week. The forecast looks very hot for the remainder of the week so telling guys to really push irrigation. This weather will really take a toll on the dryland corn acres, but hopefully they can catch a rain to help them keep going. Disease pressure is staying fairly light but starting to see an increase in gray leaf spot as it moves up the plants. Spidermites are being found around the borders of fields with some fields in my southern territory that have spidermites thoughout. Farmers will want to add in 4-6 ounces of brigade to fungicide treatment to hold mites and aphids down. Late round of fertigation is now being applied through pivots once corn is finished pollinating.

Soybeans- R3

Soybeans are right around the R3 crop stage this week. There are quite a few fields in my area getting sprayed for bean leaf beetles, and grasshoppers. Insects seem to be doing a little more defoliation this year and are getting controlled before they can clip on pods. Disease pressure remains light in the soybeans with traces of Sudden death syndrome beginning to show up on field that have high pressure. Soybeans will begin needing some good moisture now. It will be good to make a pass this week, or a couple quicker passes this week and then really start watering next week as pods begin to fill.

Ryan Busboom

Corn: V17 to R1.5-Pollination

Majority of the corn in the area is at a late tassel to mostly pollination stage this week. Humidity along with a little more moderate temps have allowed for good development this last week and kept water use lower than normal. Rains along with strong winds last week brought scattered areas with some lodging and/or greensnap. Worst greensnap has been on fields that were not quite to tassel/early tassel stage last week as plants are still rapidly growing/more brittle at that stage. Fields that were fully tasseled already handled the storms better with only scattered greensnap. Most field have seen a 1-15% greensnap and light root lodging/goosenecking where roots weren’t as far along or poor from spring sidewall compaction issues. A few fields I check had up to 35-50% greensnap and a few will not be watered the rest of the season. Other than storm damage, pollination should progress well in more moderate temps and corn should be moving into blister stage by next week. If planning to fertigate some more, or if not applied yet due to the rains, it is best to wait till brown silk to be sure there are no issues with pollination. Long dew periods, humidity, and rain have allowed gray leaf spot to start increasing in most fields, still light but finding it up to the ear leaf on more susceptible hybrids. Goss’ Wilt and common rust have stayed pretty scattered. If planning a fungicide application, once field is fully tasseled is the ideal time to treat for biggest yield gain. Insects pressure has remained light with grasshoppers and some light spider mites being the main concerns along with scattered findings of earworm and western bean cutworm in conventional corn. If already flying the field, a 5-6 oz/ac rate of Brigade/Capture will help with the majority of the insect issues. If spraying for rootworm beetles, Lorsban or Dimethoate would need to be added for knockdown.

Soybeans: V7 to R2-full bloom

Most soybeans this week are a mid to full bloom stage with some early group 2 beans moving quickly to beginning pod-R3 stage when watering will need to start aggressively. Rains have helped keep things wet enough in most areas to allow plants to gain good height/canopy with majority of narrow rows now nearing full canopy and wide rows 60-85% canopied this week. Not much for storm damage was found in the soybeans other than a few torn leaves which is not a concern at the early growth stage. Starting to find some light bacterial blight where there have been storms along with a little frogeye leaf spot and brown spot on a few fields. Overall disease is light this year considering the early wet weather. Insects staying light as well with mostly grasshopper, cucumber beetle, bean leaf beetle, and a few stem borer beetles. No aphids or spider mites have been found in the beans yet. An R3 application of a fungicide/insecticide application has shown a good return in some cases the last few years even with light disease/insect pressure if you are trying to push top end yield on best acres. Hero + Priaxor or Leverage + Stratego YLD have both shown good results. Next week will likely be the time to get these applications applied.

Matt Wildman

Corn: V16-Silking

Corn has continued to move quickly as it has for the last 2 weeks. Things continue to stay busy as we enter peak water usage and post tassel fungicide applications will be starting up. Corn diseases showed some early movement in the plants early this season, but with the hot temperatures conditions have been great to fend off these diseases. A lot of fungicide recommendations will be on corn on corn acres where the heavier disease pressure carried over from last year or less defensible hybrids. A few areas in eastern Nebraska were fortunate enough to see some scattered showers over the last weekend. The rain was great, but at peak water usage ranging from .3-.33 the moisture will not last long. We will need to keep watering hard through silking and pollination and peak water usage will start to come down. Insect pressure is starting to flare up throughout the area with rootworm beetles, earworm, grasshoppers, and a few spider mites starting to show. With silks forming and getting ready to form make sure your rootworm beetle pressure is known. Make sure if you are spraying for beetles you add in residual to ensure spider mites do not flare up. A knock down of Lorsban with brigade for residual is always a good option.

Corn Rootworm Beetle	TheProfiler Mid-Season

Soybeans : 6^Th trifoliate- Mid Bloom

Hot dry conditions have been a challenge across soybean acres this year. Short soybean plants along with poor weed control has been a common problem across the area. The majority of 30” rows will now be close to canopy and post sprays have been applied or are scheduled. Weed control in soybean has been a struggle this year. If there is one thing we have repeated over and over is run more gallons. Cobra will be a big post spray herbicide across the area and is recommended to be ran with 20 gallons of water. This may be a hassle to refill more frequently, but water is cheap and a lot of the poor coverage sprayed fields are going to have to be resprayed. Bean leaf beetle, grasshoppers, and stem bore continue to show a slight increase in pressure along the bean fields this week.

Beans sprayed two weeks ago with Cobra and low gallons

Dane Knudsen

Corn V10-15

Starting to see a few tassels starting to show up. Over the last week guys have been running pivots pretty hard to stay ahead on moisture.  There are some rain chances in the forcast and it would be great to catch a widespread rain as dryland really needs it. The corn is really starting to use a lot of moisture especially on the hot days. Disease pressure is staying pretty light for the most part. Finding light amounts of common rust, eye spot, physoderma brown spot, and bacterial leaf spot. Only finding trace amounts of gray leaf spot and goss’s wilt. Will still be a good year for fungicides to help with stalk quality as anthracnose was found in nearly every field. Main insect concern is grasshoppers at this point as they are continuing to increase. Starting to see trace amounts of spidermites in a few fields.

Soybeans V4-Early bloom

Soybeans are starting to need some moisture if pivots haven’t made a pass around yet. Most fields that did get a pass this last week really shot up and are getting closer to canopy. Main issue in the beans this year has been weed control as glyphosate resistant waterhemp has been very hard to control. My best luck has been using ultra blazer or cobra with 20 gallons of water for good coverage. Flexstar was used early on a lot of acres and it seemed to do a decent job if weeds were less than 3 inches. Once the pigweeds get above 6 inches they become very tough to kill with anything. Timing and coverage has been the key for good control. Insect pressure is staying light but starting to see more bean leaf beetles this week along with stem borer beetles and grasshoppers.

Ryan Busboom

Corn V8-V11

With last week’s heat and some scattered showers over the weekend, corn in a lot of the area I cover has progressed well this last week and is about 40-80% canopied in the majority now. Overall, early season deficiencies aren’t showing in the majority where plants have rooted down more and sulfur and nitrogen have become more available from organic matter and sidedress/topdress application have been made and watered in. Still quite a few fields that were planted in May showing pinching of nodal roots along the seed trench/sidewall compaction and plants will never fully recover from this at this stage in the season. Rains and pivot passes have helped soften the top and the majority of brace roots are forming well now.  With the early wet/cool conditions, some of the corn is still fairly short for its growth stage so canopy has been a little slow this season. If fertigating, the next 10-14 days would be the ideal time to get it applied. Disease has mostly stayed light with trace of northern corn leaf blight, Goss’ Wilt, gray leaf spot, and common rust are being found. Anthracnose isn’t much of a foliar concern now as lower leaves are sloughing off, but will need to monitor stalk quality prior to harvest. Insect pressure has remained light as well with grasshoppers being the main concern as well as a few earworm on conventional corn acres. Watering is really beginning to pick up in areas that didn’t receive a rain as corn is using 0.13-0.19”/day out of the top 18” to 24” at this stage.

Soybeans V1-V6; 1^st to 6^th trifoliate.

Soybean stands overall ended up fairly good with just a few lighter stands on some fields where there was more crusting/compaction issues and fields were either dryland or didn’t get a pivot pass soon enough. Development of the soybeans in the heat has been good with good nodulation on the majority of fields as well. If you have high pH fields, now is the time to monitor for iron deficiency chlorosis that could cause the beans to be pale in color. The 15” and narrower rows that were planted in good time should be nearing canopy here in the next 1-2 weeks and now would be the time to get them sprayed before they prevent good coverage on the weeds. With waterhemp and pigweed growing 12”/week or more, timely post application is critical for good control. When using one of the contact herbicides such as Cobra, Flexstar, or Ultra Blazer, running 20 GPA water as carrier can greatly increase effectiveness of control. A few wide row beans I am planning to run either Outlook or Warrant along with the early post spray to add more residual and hopefully prevent another post spray before the beans canopy. Disease has remained light with traces of frogeye leaf spot being found along with a few fields having some bacterial blight that has been brought on by light storm damage, it is usually not a yield-limiting concern. I’ve also found a few pockets of wilted plants from phytophthora root rot on fields that have had issues in the past. Variety selection is the best management option to look at if you have this disease. Insect pressure remains light with mostly only a few bean leaf beetle and grasshopper so far, though south of Hwy 41 I am starting to find a few stem bore beetle now as well. These will lay eggs later in the season and larvae will bore out the stem making standability an issue if beans dry down too much before harvest.

Matt Wildman

Corn: V6-V10

It has been a busy hectic week for farmers across eastern Nebraska. Between late corn post sprays and Irrigation starting up in full swing there has been little time for anything else. Corn development has been very good over the past week of heat. Plants are finally starting to see better height and color. Roots have also benefited greatly from the heat. The top soil has started to dry out this week from the early season rains and roots are finally starting to push down. The results of wet planting conditions are still showing up as sidewall compaction still slowing down nodal/brace root formation. Corn across the areas is using .10-.15 of moisture per day. Pivots and flood irrigation will be firing up in full swing this week. Corn insect pressure has seemed to be light across most fields with good rotation this year. Corn rootworm is just starting to flare up on a few corn on corn acres. With the cool start to the year and mild winter we could see a very late flush of beetles this year, so it’s very important to know your pressure coming into tassel. Corn diseases have slowly flared up and plateaued off over the past 2 weeks. With the wet year corn on corn areas have started to show anthracnose in the lower leaves. Traces of northern corn leaf blight and Goss’s wilt have been found this week. The hot dry conditions have slowed down these diseases and if it continues we should not see a lot of issues into later season.

Soybeans: Unifoliate-5^th Trifoliate

The soybean stages across the area continue to vary with later planting. The soybeans are gaining some better plant color and development from the current hotter temps. The roots are slowly pushing down and nodulation looks great across the area. We will start to see beans look lightly yellow across the fields as early soybean post herbicide application begins. Weed control has been a big concern across the majority of soybean areas this year. A lot of pre emergence residual has not quite held as long we would like. Last week a lot of Flexstar went out to try and get more residual on smaller soybeans. With the rotation restrictions on Flexstar our window to spray this chemical has run out. A lot of Extreme Herbicide will now go out to add more residual to the soybeans. Mare’s tail has been a few hard kill this year with most of it moving right out of the spray and regrown. If mare’s tail is your main issue Firstrate is a great option for post spray. Fields that have stayed clean can wait closer to canopy and not need much residual herbicide. Soybean plant health has looked good in the early wet conditions, but there is some early traces of Frogeye Leaf spot showing up in the plants. This will be something to monitor as the season progresses.

Dane Knudsen

Corn V4-8

Corn is finally starting to green up for the most part. Heat and sunshine this week has made corn roots reach down and find nitrogen. Most fields are starting to even up in height and color. There is still some pretty yellow corn in areas depending on planting date and different soils. Sidedressing is going on more fields than usual this year. Early season athracnose is starting to show up on lower leaves of plants. More present on fields that had some storm damage. Quite a few growers have thrown in Fungicide with post herbicide applications. I am planning on fungicide recommendations at tassel time on most fields unless disease pressure stays very minimal in weeks going forward.  A lot of post herbicide recommendations have been made over the last week. Most of my recommendations have included a callisto, or status mix with some residual to control waterhemp. We haven’t received any rain since most applications have been made and on smaller corn a quick pivot pass to incorporate residual will really help out.

Soybeans Emergence-3^rd Trifoliate

Soybeans are looking pretty good for the most part at this point. There were quite a few fields that needed a pivot pass to achieve good stands as there was a pretty hard crust in areas. Insect pressure remains fairly light with mainly bean leaf beetles feeding on new leaves. This isn’t a major concern at this point unless there is 40% or more defoliation. Seeing a lot of pre-emerge herbicides starting to wear off and waterhemp is starting to make a run. I have quite a few post recommendations out this week with added residual to get good control and keep the waterhemp from emerging.  

Ryan Busboom

Corn: V2 to V6 stage.

With some warmer weather and humidity this last week, the corn is starting to progress more quickly and get some height to it. With all the saturated early soils this season, we are seeing quite a bit of variability where fall or spring anhydrous was applied as nodal roots have not moved deep into the profile yet and reached the nitrogen. Over the anhydrous tracks, plants are getting a darker green color and much taller already. Fields that at least had some over their nitrogen broadcast as UAN pre-plant are looking more even this week. Rains this year have also caused some leaching of N deeper into the profile, if thinking about sidedress or topdressing, the next 2 weeks would be the time to get it done and we recommend taking a PSNT (pre-sidedress nitrogen test) to determine what remains and what needs to be applied to maximize yield. Other than the later planted corn which has seen some more damping off with rains this last week, we’re not seeing much increase as nodal roots start to support plant growth. Disease pressure otherwise remains light with only a few fields having some holcus leaf spot that tends to be brought on by thunderstorms, this is not usually a concern as plants grow out of it. The next few weeks will be the time to watch for early anthracnose and gray leaf spot if it stays warm and humid, especially on corn/corn acres where previously infected residue is present. Insect pressure remains light with only some scattered cucumber (southern rootworm) beetle feeding on leaves, these are not a concern toward crop growth or yield. With pre-emergence herbicides breaking now and some waterhemp and pigweed up to 6”, now is the time to get post applications done. With variability in corn height from conditions this year, one thing to think about is adding some more residual to your post application to keep fields clean through crop canopy. I’ve had good luck with Halex GT the last few years and am trying a new product out called Armezon Pro on a few acres as well that also has a fit in conventional corn as it has no RoundUp in it.

Replicated plots with 14 of the newer hybrids we are evaluating from 7 different companies.

Soybeans: In the bag to Unifoliate Stage.

With more rain this last week, there has not been much progress in soybean planting with about 10-20% left to be planted still. Even though it is pushing into early June, switching to a shorter season variety at this date has not shown a major benefit from university research until we get later in the month. Where rains have continued to soften up the sidewall compaction and crusting issues we’ve seen, stands have looked very good ranging from 110,000 to 170,000/ac on most fields. We have seen some light PPO burn on the hypocotyl that can be caused when beans are just cracking through the surface and a heavy rain moves the herbicide onto the seedlings. This is not usually a major concern as plants will grow out of it, but it can make them brittle for a few weeks. Damping off has been very light at this point with only a few plants found near wet holes and on some eroded/clay slopes. If you caught some of the storms this last week and soybean leaves are tattered, bacterial leaf blight will likely show up in the next week or so as some yellowing/browning of leaf margins were damaged. This is not a concern as new leaves will usually remain uninfected. Insect pressure remains very light with only a few bean leaf beetle on the first emerged beans. Where residuals were applied before planting, the majority are still holding very well, but we may need to early post some wide rows in the next 1-2 weeks to clean up some early grass and waterhemp. Marestail burndown has been sporadic this year as many went on during fluctuating temperatures. If re-growth occurs at this point, it will be difficult to get a full kill the remainder of the season.

Matt Wildman