Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour - Day 1

Crop Conditions Across Indiana

- Update from Eric Miller

Corn

• Foliar disease and management has been main topic of conversation for all growers across Indiana. Gray leaf spot and northern corn leaf blight can be found in almost every corn field. With many fields requiring fungicide treatment. Tar spot and southern rust are two other leaf diseases making their way across the state. Fields with severe tar spot or southern rust may warrant two fungicide applications during grain fill. Untreated fields 
• Low insect pressure.
• Uneven emergence or extreme weather during pollination has resulted in a few pollination issues. 
• Continued overcast days since pollination could influence kernel retention on ear tips. 
• Excessive May, June, and July rainfall events has influenced plant available nitrogen. Continuing to monitor for any late season nitrogen deficiency. 
• Most field are late blister-early milk to dough stage. 
• Anticipating a very good corn crop.

Soybeans

• Low foliar disease pressure. Isolated frogeye leaf spot, Septoria brown spot, and white mold. Continue to scout for frogeye leaf spot if a fungicide application has not already been made. 
• More sudden death syndrome (SDS) symptomology showing-up as the calendar has turned to August. Expecting more SDS to continue to develop. Consider ILEVO^® for those acres for future soybean crops. 
• Japanese beetle and bean leaf beetle can be found in almost every field, but at low incidence.
• Weed control is a continuing conversation and theme. The Enlist weed control system paired with Pioneer Enlist^® E3 soybeans provide flexibility and performance customers have come to expect.
• Low lying pockets of fields along with high clay hill sides have yellowed due to excessive moisture. Beginning to green back as nodulation have recovered from saturated soil conditions.
• Most fields are filling pods.
• Anticipating a good soybean crop.

Photos From East-Central Indiana

Frogeye Leaf Spot - Union County IN - Continue to scout for frogeye leaf spot if a fungicide application has not already been made.

Frogeye Leaf Spot - Wayne County IN - Consider ILEVO^® seed treatment for these acres in future soybean crops.

Tar Spot - Lake County IN

Southern Rust - Ripley County IN

Southern Rust - Ripley County IN

ILEVO^® is a registered trademark of BASF.

Crop Conditions Across SE Nebraska - Corn and Soybeans

- Update from Gabe Bathen

Corn

• Early wet and cool weather provided planting issues, creating a good deal of sidewall compaction and reduced seed to soil contact, resulting in uneven emergence. The sins of the spring, we see all season.
• Insects have shown up early and often including Spider mites, Japanese beetles, and Western Bean Cutworm (WBC). In most situations early insecticide applications were necessary to control damage and populations and was added to the fungicide application.
• Very low disease pressure early in the season. Gray leaf spot (GLS) and Northern Corn Leaf Blight (NCLB) have started to show up in the lower canopy. Southern Rust has now also been identified in many counties in south and eastern Nebraska.
• Multiple weather events have occurred in central Nebraska that have caused willowing, lodging, and snap. Winds in the hardest hit areas reached 70+ mph. The results of this are starting to show as arrested ears. In many cases the plants used great amounts of energy to right themselves. The extent of yield reduction is yet unknown, but early scouting is showing it to be significant.
• Moisture has been tough to come by naturally and temperatures have been well above normal with nighttime temps staying uncomfortably high. Pivots have run consistently trying to keep up with the crop’s needs. Dryland is really starting to show the effects, but where the water is available and the corn has avoided damage, it looks very good.

Soybeans

• Early planted soybeans were a common theme this year with many growers electing to get them in the ground ahead of the corn. We have seen the benefit this year with more node potential. Many fields hit R3 by the middle of July, well ahead of past years.
• Weed control issues have stemmed from the excessive heat of the month of June with many days in the 90’s. Some of those harder to control weeds hardened off, making anything above the labeled height very hard to kill. Those warmer days also contributed to a lot of off target volatilization of chemistries causing cupping in non-tolerant hybrids.
• Tank contamination in sprayers has also been shown to be a deterrent this year, no matter which side of the fence you are on.
• Japanese beetles have run rampant again this year, skeletonizing soybean leaves over a long period of time. Many fields have required multiple applications of insecticide.
• White Mold is showing up now in places it has never been seen. Variety selection for tolerance to this pest has shown to be most effective with little opportunity to help the plant with a reactionary fungicide application. Frogeye Leaf Spot has also been confirmed in areas in Nebraska, requiring fungicide applications.