“It rained Saturday night (6/20) and then again this morning, with chances for another one tonight. We needed the rain to soften the crust so the last of the rice could emerge. In places, growers had run pivots to bring up late-planted soybeans and activate residuals.”
John D. Beasley, South Georgia Crop Services, Inc., Screven, Georgia
“Corn is at the dent stage. We’re at least three weeks from any of it being mature. We treated most of the acres for Southern rust. I think we’re going to have some pretty good yields. We didn’t get as much sun as we’d like, but you can’t have rain and sunshine. We’ll take what we got.”
Tucker Miller, Ind. Consultant, Drew, Mississippi
“We’ve had scattered showers today (6/22), but people are still in the field in some areas. Prior to today, some areas received up to 1.5 inches of rain, and farmers were ready for a shower where it hasn’t rained recently.
“Our beans are between nine and ten nodes, and most are around R1 to R1.5. We like to get to 13 nodes or around R3 before we put out a fungicide, so we haven’t applied one yet.
“Most of our corn is tasseling. We haven’t had any major disease issues. We were irrigating corn, but some people received rain last week.
“Our Southwestern corn borer traps are in place around non-Bt corn, and those counts have been very low. We really haven’t had any major issues so far.”
Sebe Brown, Louisiana Extension Field Crops Entomologist
“In soybeans, I have had a report of spider mites on beans, something I don’t hear about very often. With this hot, dry weather, it’s a concern where the farmer has found them. If the rain in the forecast (as of 6/23) doesn’t knock them off, the farmer will treat. In all the years I’ve been here, this is only the second time I’ve ever gotten a call about spider mites in beans.
“The farmer would just as soon not treat. He’s in south Louisiana, and those growers already spend a good deal of money on applications just for redbanded stink bugs (RBSB). They try to avoid any excess application if they can.
“We’ve already been fighting RBSB really hard in the southern part of the state where soybeans are rotated with sugarcane. A lot of those growers already have made three to five RBSB treatments this year. Those soybeans are planted in March or even late February. Soybeans hit R5 down there first, so those fields are the only thing in large acreage for RBSB to feed on.
“As for the northern part of the state, RBSB are there, but I haven’t heard of any guys making an application yet. A few treatments have gone out in central Louisiana.
“The rain this week has been especially helpful in the corn. Some of our corn is moving into dent, and the most advanced corn is progressing to the point that irrigation will be cut off soon if it hasn’t already shut down in places. We have a great looking corn crop this year.”
Michael Mulvaney, Cropping Systems Specialist, University of Florida, Western Panhandle
“In the Eastern Panhandle, we’re seeing some yellowing and rapid decline in corn, and that may be due to N and K leaching. However, with the crop at this late stage, there’s little we can do about it.”
Phillip McKibben, McKibben Ag Services, Mathiston, Mississippi
“Most of our soybeans are between V8 and V12 and blooming.
“The June solstice – the longest day of the year – was on June 20 this year, and our beans were not at the optimum growth stage to utilize the extended daylight hours. It has been well documented that beans must be at peak bloom, or an R3 growth stage, during this period for optimal yield potential.
“To achieve that in our areas, beans would have to be planted around April 20-25. Supposedly, that is why four-tenths of a bushel of yield potential is lost every day after April 25 that you plant. If you plant on May 1, you’re giving up a couple of bushels because your peak bloom will be just after the summer solstice. This has been widely talked about, and we’ve been paying attention to the concept.
“We did lose some corn to green snap when that quick-moving cold front blew through on June 5. In some fields, we lost up to 20% of the plants. That front came through like a train. The wind only blew about 15 minutes and we didn’t get much rain, but it left behind a trail of lower yields.
“Despite that, all of our corn looks really good now. It’s all in tassel and moving into the silking stage. The temperature and moisture levels have been ideal over the past three weeks, so we’re excited about our yield potential.”
Scott Stewart, Extension Entomologist, Jackson, Tennessee
“A few soybeans are beginning to flower. Soybean pest pressure appears to be normal, which means pretty light. I received a few calls about Japanese beetles showing up in pretty good numbers last week. They caused defoliation on the top of the plant, but that’s almost never an economic issue. Both the damage and the beetles are easy to see, so this insect comes up every year and people want to know whether they should do something.
“But Japanese beetles aren’t as bad as they used to be. That seems to be the trend with this insect. They’re really bad for the first couple of years after they show up in an area, but natural enemies and diseases help reduce the population.
“In non-Bt corn, we’re right in between our two big Southwestern corn borer moth flights. We had a decent sized moth flight, but moth catches have now dropped to nothing. It’s typical for the numbers to drop because the original moths are gone and we’re just waiting for the next generation to pop up, which I think will be around July 10.
“We’re one of the few places that has an issue with them. We have so many non-Bt corn acres that West Tennessee is an easy target. A lot of those acres are on wildlife refuges, and farmers aren’t allowed to grow Bt corn on that land.
“We’re having the same issue in a few other areas, such as where farmers are growing corn for the organic market. Also, we have a higher percentage of non-Bt acres around Carroll and Henry Counties, which are the areas where we deal with chronic Southwestern corn borer issues. Some farmers also grow white corn for a premium, which mostly tends to be non-Bt corn.
“Only a very small percentage of our acres are affected right now, but it’s a pretty good infestation this year in those few areas.
“We could use a little more rain in places. Corn is starting to tassel in a lot of fields, so a few guys would like just a little more rain.”
Dale Wells, Ind. Cotton Services, Inc., Leachville, Arkansas
“Scattered showers have been falling today (6/22), and we probably received 2 tenths of an inch today. But between 1 and 1.5 inches fell over the weekend, so we were not desperate for rain.
“Our beans are really late. We started planted in the first week of June, so they’re between cotyledon and V2. Although they are late, we made good stands and the weed control looks great.
“We are seeing dicamba symptoms in these late-planted E3 soybeans. Beans in the R1 stage are more susceptible to damage, but none of our soybeans are at bloom yet. Still, though, this is troubling.
