Crop Watcher July 08 2011 I'm Back

Todd Easton Coles County July 08 2011: This year it is amazing what can happen in ten days while you are away. You may have noticed my absence last week in this column as the Family and I had a nice trip out west. While we were gone most of the beans got their much needed herbicide application, the wheat was harvested, double crop beans were drilled, and the corn and beans grew a lot. The early April planted corn has almost completed the early vegetative stages and is now entering the R-1 stage. May planted corn looks to be a week away from the VT tassel stage and has caught up to the earlier corn in height. All of the corn in the area benefited from the inch of rain we received last weekend and at this point has great potential. The soybean fields are looking much better with the weeds among the beans finally turning yellow and disappearing quickly. The crop is generally even at the R-1 to R-2 blooming stages and making great progress also. The wheat crop is in the bin with mixed results as the crop for the most part showed the stress of the exceptionally dry fall last year. Most of the yields I overheard were in the 50’s and 60’s with the best being around 85 bushel per acre. Double Crop beans went in right behind the combines and after the rain should be off to a good and timely start. As we traveled the I-80 corridor the crop condition got noticeably better the closer to home we got. This state and especially this area is in very good shape especially compared to many of the fields out west.

Crop Watcher 06/24/11

Todd Easton Coles County June 24 2011: Another week of steady progress on mother natures part this week but no progress on the producers side of the equation as a short 2 inches of rainfall kept sprayers parked most of this week. Even the later May planted corn fields are almost chest high by now not quite a foot shorter than the early April plantings and both have big potential that will be determined by the next couple months weather. Crop Protection dealers are out setting up fungicide application plans and with the wet humid weather pattern so far I'm betting we will see the yellow Air Tractors make alot of rounds this summer. Since last weeks report the bean crop growth has accelerated seemingly overnight with many fields quickly closing up their rows. It has been frustrating not being able to get the sprayers out to eradicate the growing weeds. I don't often get specific with what we do on our own operation but one thing I am very glad we did in this difficult bean spraying year was apply a burndown with residual ahead of the bean planter in some of the fields with the idea of combating glyphosate resistance. So far it has had the added bonus of keeping those fields much cleaner despite the delay of our post application and will be done on all of my bean acres next year.

Crop Watcher June 17 2011

Todd Easton Coles County June 17 2011: The fields keep getting greener and taller here in Coles County as this week brought us couple of mostly mild rain showers that have fueled the rapid development of the young crops. Note that I said mostly mild as the Wednesday showers were considerably harsher in the southern part of the area and caused another round of pond filling in the low areas. Corn fields are growing at an astonishing rate again this week with some of the earliest fields almost at V8 development and even many of the May planted fields closing their canopy. Soybean fields are getting greener with good soybean stands and in some fields grass. Not surprising with the ample moisture so with their jobs completed in the corn sprayers are making their rounds in the beans a bit early which may mean a two pass year for weed control. Wheat fields have all transitioned from green to almost golden and look much better than I figured they would earlier. Combines should be able to do their job in the crop around the fourth as normal and will hopefully keep the trucks hauling away pretty busy