Planting beans early to encourage pre-solstice flowering is focusing on adding more pods at the base of the plant. The pods need to be ½ inch or longer in length to make them more stable before the rows close to be able to hang onto those pods. Adding 2 pods per plant can [...]
Ken gives a crop report from Minnesota and back, and while he might be a little biased, he indicates the best-looking crop is right here in central IL. Ken advocates for growers to take a Farm Mental Health Week and covers why some growers are seeing rootless corn at this point in [...]
Ugly corn phase happens in the period when the transfer is made from the seed roots to the crown roots. Sometimes stumbling in this phase can be indicators of a non-uniform seedbed.
Soybeans can also experience a carbon penalty if they are V4 or smaller when the carbon penalty period hits. Depending on size of the bean, it can take a couple of weeks to come out of the stall.
Ken recaps the reports from the north on frost damage from the past weekend and a planting update from the Quincy area. The beans at the Corn College Campus are starting to flower and Ken warns growers with early planted beans to make sure they aren’t knocking off these early flowers with [...]
As nighttime temperatures get above 65 degrees we start to see the effects of the carbon penalty. The explosion of the microbial population can cause issues for growing plants if not managed properly.
Ken talks with CTC agronomist Matt Duesterhaus in Quincy, Il to see how they are dealing with the 15 inches of rain they have received since mid March, replant issues they have both been seeing, and how hybrid characteristics can help inform your plan for dealing with the ugly corn syndrome. They also [...]
Ken recaps the outcome of the service calls looking at frosted beans this week, considerations for those who replanted and those who left it, and gives a heads up to the pest teams to be scouting fields and making ear count notes now.
Your cutworm pressure will be affected by each field’s environment. Ken gives growers a comparison between two different trap locations and demonstrates the need to be tracking cutworm pressure in the fields with cover.
Ken and crew grabbed some footage today to help growers evaluate marginal fields to see if replant is the best option. Beans in the I-80 corridor that had 4 nights of frost are causing calls about marginal bean fields leading to questions about replanting. The early planted beans come at a yield premium [...]
