Crop Watcher 08/13/10 SAFETY FIRST!

Todd Easton Coles County August 13 2010: Well it is still very hot across the area and I’m sure much of the rest of the state. Weather forecasters promise a cool down this next week preceded by some rain and producers are sure hoping they are right. The extreme heat is pushing corn crop development forward very quickly and potentially causing a small reduction in final yield. Sample ears pulled from fields are testing from 30 percent to 40 percent moisture on my latest planted field with late maturity corn. Late season diseases have shown up in fields more than normal this year such as Grey Leaf Spot and Diplodia ear rot that has several producers worried about their final sample at harvest. Soybean plants being pulled out of fields are still looking good and still have good pod counts but those pods have just began to fill and without some moisture soon the yields may take a big hit this fall. The area unfortunately had a vivid reminder that the greatest profession in the world is also one of the most dangerous. A well known and liked local producer was tragically pinned by a piece of machinery he was working on and will be missed by many. It just can not be said often enough or loud enough SAFETY FIRST EVERYDAY!