Hannibal to Hillsboro

Hannibal to Hillsboro

Crop Condition Rainfall

We made our return trip yesterday.  Crops on the Illinois leg looked better than Iowa for the most part.  I know that not too far from I 72 conditions are dryer.  The map below is the past 14 days rainfall.  Illinois is in the center.  The blue areas have had less than a half inch.  Some of the blue area are really dry.

Southeast Iowa Crops

Southeast Iowa Crops

Corn Condition Crop Condition Soybean Condition

We drove across Southeast Iowa this morning.  Irrigation rigs are running in the river bottoms.  Corn is dark green, but most is not yet tasseling.  Some fields had leaf rolling, but none of the corn looked to be beyond the help of a timely rain.  Soybeans are looking good too.  Judging from brown lawns, I would say rain would very welcome.

Corn Pollination

Corn Pollination

Corn Condition Crop Condition

Early planted fields are starting to pollinate.  It may be 2 weeks before this field is done pollinating because of unevenness of the stand.  This can't lead to top yields.

Comments on Weather and Crop Report

Comments on Weather and Crop Report

Crop Condition

While I have not been everywhere, I have traveled hundreds of miles in the past week in Illinois, Iowa and a small part of Missouri.  The Illinois weather and crop report is consistent with what I have seen.  59 % of Corn is listed as good to excellent.  May be a a bit generous, but it is close.  67 % of soybeans are good to excellent.  I am not sure it should be that high, but soybeans are better than corn.  19% are still reporting short on moisture.  That seems about right.

Past 7 Days Rainfall

Past 7 Days Rainfall

corn Crop Condition weather

We have just had several days of wet weather.  You could get the idea that the effects of dry weather have been averted.  If you study the map, You will find that there are many areas that had only a half inch, especially to the west. On the plus side, many parts of Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana had good rain.  Some of the early planted corn is good till silking time, which is coming in two weeks.  Later planted corn was helped as far as getting roots to grow deeper, but probably more than half of the corn I have seen will need more rain to assure a decent crop.  I have not seen anything that leads me to believe that corn yields will be above trend line.  Early planted soybeans are looking good, but later planted soybeans have population issues.

Road Trip North and West

Road Trip North and West

Crop Condition weather

Weekend travels took us to Pella, Iowa for a family visit.  Some corn in Pike Co is in the V-8 to V-10 stage. On Friday, some corn in Pike County was starting to roll because of low humidity and high winds.  On the return trip, corn on the sandy soils had turned white.

Irrigation rigs were running in the Mississippi River bottoms as we traveled north. There were still a few planters in the field Friday.  Most of the soybeans in Iowa were V-1 to V-3.  It was interesting that almost no beans in Iowa were planted in 30 inch rows.

High winds, low humidity and high temperatures continued for our entire visit.  Corn in Iowa was V-3 to V-6 stage, so fortunately water requirements were lower than for some of the Illinois Corn.  In Iowa, people were already talking drought, although crops looked OK even as we traveled home Sunday.  To give and idea of the conditions though, I will comment that upper leaves on trees were wilted because they could not take up water fast enough.

Without regard to dry conditions, crops generally looked better in Iowa than they do in Illinois because soils were dryer for planting in Iowa.    

Rain in the forecast on Wednesday could help to rescue the corn from significant damage.

Crop Condition Today

Crop Condition Today

corn Crop Condition Soybeans

In general crop condition this spring has been fair at best.  Today as we were getting caught up on soil sampling, we were still seeing fields that are too wet to plant.  Corn was still being replanted.  Patching in will probably continue for  2 weeks.  12 acres of corn planted in Mid-March was the best looking corn we have seen.  I am not advocating for planting that early because the risk is huge.  About half the corn is starting to get some dark color.  It is also getting tall enough that you can't see the areas that have poor stands for the most part.  Smaller corn has decent stands, but we are still seeing nitrogen and sulfur deficiency symptoms, probably somewhat as a result of weather. My overall rating of corn condition is just average.

Weather is improving for now.  Next week we will start hearing from some people that a rain would be nice.  The first rain in the forecast is June 17.

Soybeans are looking a little better than corn.  Stands are more even and some early planted beans are at V2 or V3 stage.  later planted soybeans are germinating and emerging fast.  My overall rating of soybeans is slightly above average.

Weed control is an issue in some places.  I have heard of disappointing results with Dicamba and I have seen disappointing results with Liberty.

Iowa Road Trip

Iowa Road Trip

Crop Condition

We made a road trip to Pella Iowa this weekend.  Crops appeared to be all harvested.  Very little tillage is don on the rolling hills in Iowa.  This is a contrast to Illinois.  Snow was falling in Iowa off and on, but never amounted to much, except to make roads slippery.

Rainy Weather

Rainy Weather

Crop Condition

The last 2 days have been very rainy.  Harvest is likely delayed through the weekend.  When fields are dry enough, I expect to see lots of combines going.

Corn maturing fast

Corn maturing fast

Crop Condition

I went to St. Charles County Missouri today to deliver recommendations.  The Illinois leg of the trip showed very little mature corn. In Missouri however, I estimate 25 to 30 % of the corn is mature.  Clients are planning to start harvest next week.  Yields are expected to be variable.

Points North

Points North

Crop Condition

I went to Sycamore for a meeting and then continued  on to Woodstock, Belvidere, Rockford, Freeport, Galena, Mt. Carroll, and Morrison.  Then straight south to I-74.  Crops look very good everywhere we went.  Most of the corn nrtoh of I-80 was not yet tasseling.  Most of the corn south of I-80 had dry silks.  I did not walk in to any fields, but soybeans looked good too.

North of Springfield

North of Springfield

Crop Condition

I was 10 miles north of Springfield today to look at some vegetable crop issues.  Topsoil was relatively dry.  It was obvious that rainfall amounts have been more modest than the 4 inches we had in Hillsboro.  Crops continue to tlook good, but there are still areas that need rain.

Road Trip to Bloomington

Road Trip to Bloomington

Crop Condition weather

Yesterday I went to Bloomington for a meeting.  We drove past a lot of nice looking corn.  While we were there, a small amount of rain fell on part of that hole I have been talking about.  In some cases, the soil did not even look damp when we returned home.  About  a half inch fell in Hillsboro at least in my gauge.  The garden looked damp until noon.

Crop Report

Crop Report

Crop Condition

I went to Champaign today for Weed Day.  This morning in the cool weather, all the crops looked pretty good.  Late planted corn has a long way to go to look as good as early planted.  This afternoon on the drive home, the crops were showing stress in the blue areas on the map below. It looks like the stress must be affecting yield.  Heavy rains are inthe forecast for Sunday.  I think we will take it any way we can get it.  Soybeans seem good, but their water requirement is much lower than corn.  Also, some stress in the middle of the growing season seems to add to yield.  Some late planted soybeans in the blue are not looking good.  The blue is in southwest central Illinois and adjacent areas in Missouri.  Click on the map to enlarge

Rainfall Last 14 Days

Road Trip Report

Road Trip Report

corn Crop Condition

We took a little trip to Farmington yesterday.  Lots of corn is planted and is in growth stages V2 to V5.  We did not see much a lot bigger.  There was some field activity, but not much.  Bean planting a spraying is what was going on.  We did not see any beans out of the ground.

It has been cold, so I am tempted to say the picture below is showing snow.  It is actually Cottonwood cotton in St. Charles County Missouri.  This corn was the biggest we have sampled and looked very good.

Northern Illinois is wet

Northern Illinois is wet

Crop Condition

Reports from Northern Illinois are that it is very wet.  The photo below was provided by my daughter-in-law, Rebecca Rahe.  It shows the Kiswaukee River near Sycamore.

Crop Update

Crop Update

Crop Condition

I took a trip to Brown County today to discuss some livestock issues with a customer.  Almost all corn is mature.  We have had over 3 inches of rain in my area, but much less in the Brown County area.  Burrus seeds was harvesting seedcorn in the Meredosia area,  I wanted to take a picture, but it was in a one lane construction zone.  Others were also harvesting along highway 104.

Some soybean fields have dropped leaves and are nearly ready for harvest.  Others are green and various stages in between.

What is Going On Out There Today

What is Going On Out There Today

Corn Condition Crop Condition

Part of my day was spent delivering reports.  One client was filling his silo.  He said the moisture was perfect, but it might have been Ok if he had started a bit sooner.  He feeds distiller's grain and silage mixed.  One client was baling hay today.  Weather is perfect for hay baling.  Another client was building a small building.  His said corn is 24% moisture, but at this early date he prefers to dry it some more in the field.  Many of the bigger farmers including a few clients are not waiting for dry down.  They have a lot of ground to cover and prefer to start when corn reaches maturity.  Yield reports are 10% or more off of last year.  One client said hillsides are not any better than flat land.  I am thinking side hill seeps affected his corn.  Last weeks stalk tests lead me to believe stalk quality is not the best.

Seepwater Damaged Crops

Seepwater Damaged Crops

Crop Condition

It seems appropriate to follow yesterday's blog with pictures of crops damaged by seepwater near  Portage Des Sioux, MO.  The seepage controls mentioned yesterday are meant to preserve the integrity of the levee.  They do not keep seepwater out.  These are large fields and only shows part of the damage.  There are very good crops in the same field, but how do you make up for large areas of zero yield.

Hay Time

Hay Time

Crop Condition Hay

Whole fields of corn are maturing.  SDS is spreading in soybeans.  We have heard several reports of harvesting, but no yield reports.

Humidity is down and rain is several days off, so weather is perfect for hay.  I saw 3 people working on hay this afternoon.