Hull

Last long trip of the summer. Crops looked very uneven because of wetness. The Illinois River was very high at Napoleon Hollow. Did not get a view of the Mississippi.

I found a good bit of Poke weed in the middle of a field., Not sure how it got there. It is usually and edge weed. Fields were weedy in general because it has been to wet to spray.

Weather and Crop Report

No real surprises in the weather and crop report. Temperatures have been above normal. That is probably good for the corn that has adequate moisture,

Monroe County

Very wet from Hillsboro to Collinsville. Dry in Monroe County

Points South

Went as far south as Monroe Co bottoms. Wheat harvest was over or nearly over. Saw some double crop beans being planted. Corn in most areas looked good. Some of the smaller corn in Monroe County was drought stressed even with the Mississippi River 5 feet over flood stage.

Roundup Resistance

This is what a field with roundup resistant weeds looks like. If you are starting to see this, you need to start using other modes of action in you weed control. I have never liked roundup ready corn because of the issue of controlling volunteer corn. Liberty Link corn is a good alternative.

The above photo probably shows a field that does not yet have the problem. The producer probably controls his weeds early. Maybe he is using a soil applied herbicide and just backup up with roundup. Early control helps too.

Shipman

Watching crop development between Hillsboro and Shipman today. We all seem to have dodged the big rain that hit further north. The above corn was silking nicely. Crops look amazingly good considering the wetness. That goes double for early planted corn. I think this will be another year that proves that early planting is the way to go. Looking for mature corn by August 20 or so in some places. Harvest will probably start as early as Sept 1.

Nutwood - Hamel - Staunton

Sorry I missed posting 2 days in a row. Monday was a rainout so I went nowhere. Tuesday I went to Nutwood. Soil moisture was adeqaute, but not too wet. Corn is strarting to tassel. Soybeans were very weedy. Spraying is definitely in order. I know it has been hard to be timely with all the rain.



Hamel was moist too, but not excessively. Corn is about to pop tassels. Soybeans were anywhere from bifoliate stage to knee high. I walked the knee high ones.



Today we worked in Staunton. One again some corm is about to pop tassels. SOme beans were so weedy it was hard to see them. It is still veyr wet in Staunton. we dodged puddles all day. We finished in that area.

We still ahve work in Hanibal area.

Staunton

I covered some land in Staunton in the evening. It is still pretty wet with dodging puddles and all, but most of the ground was firm. Soybeans are growing very fast. Corn is looking ok, but wetness is keeping it uneven.

Fairview Heights

Rained out today. We went shopping. Fields are very wet and more rain on the way. I was hoping it might be dry enough to work tomorrow afternoon. Corn planted April 3 is tasseling.

Carlinville - Staunton

And Points between. It was pretty wet today, but not wet enough to give up. Dodged wet spots especially closer to Carlinville. Beans were 4 to 15 inches tall. Lots of corn is getting close to tasseling. I am still seeing lots of bean leaf beetle damage. It was very hot today and I also had the experience of a brief downpour today.

Nutwood - Spanky

The day started off wet. We were able to dodge showers in Illinois River bottoms for a few hours, but it eventually caught up with us. Some beans are 6 to 10 inches tall and blooming, others just coming up. Corn is anywhere from 2 weeks old to tasselling. Most is 5 to six feet tall.

Corn progress

We saw our first field tasseled today at Wanda. Worked around Belleville and Smithton. Lots of storms around us. It looked at first like we would not get anything done, but we had a good day. The trailer was loaded just as the rain started to fall on us.

Rain Continues

This is Union Avenue in Litchfield. Very heavy rain fell from St Louis to Nokomis or so and is moving east. I had 1.7 inches. Some had up to 3 inches. I was able to work, but had a hard time finding dry land. Also broke a tierod end on my 4 wheeler. It was quite interesting loading it and unloading it at the shop.

Hettick and Girard

Pretty close to home. We sampled soybeans from 6 inches tall to just coming up. At least these guys got them planted. Taking the day off today. I was still seeing nitrogen sidedressing on smaller corn. Most corn is chest high on me at least. I am still seeing insects eating on beans. I just can't find them.

Jerseyville South

Worked mostly a bit south of Jerseyville. Crops looking good for the most part although some beans are diseased because of wet weather. We covered all soybeans, but I went to Mt. Olive later and did some small corn. It had been planted wet and was showing the effects. I think we are done sampling corn ground. I think I prevented a huge downpour by sampling the corn. If I had let it go,we would have had 3 inches of rain.

Jerseyville

I have seen lots of leaf feeding on soybeans, but not sure what is causing it. I never see any bugs. Someone thought maybe corn rootworms. Found some brownspot today on no-till soybeans. It has just been too wet. Sampled 6 inch tall beans today. Small showers in the area, but they missed us.

First Corn Tassel

I saw my first corn tassel at Valmeyer today. I am not sure if you can see it in the picture. Probably planted April 3. I went there to measure prevented planting acres with GPS.

Most corn down there is ahead of south central, IL a bit. Lots of uneveness.

Girard - Mt Olive

I started the day in Girard. April planted beans are blooming. Early May beans are getting big. Rain came up about 10:30. I headed south to Mt Olive. Only got 40 acres done and it was tining there too.

Winchester

Illinois River Bottoms at Winchester are very wet. We were able to get our work done, but had to dodge a few puddles. Corn is very uneven. Some was patched in recently. Some beans planted, others not planted.

The most interesting thing I saw was tonight, west of Gillespie, someone was cultivating corn. Not a bad idea this year. A little aeration is good. He had lots of weeds too. There was some research in the 60's that showed a 10% yield advantage to cultivating. I suspect that if you have RTK guidance and a good cultivator, it would not be nearly as strenuous as it used to be. The guy I saw did not have any guidance.

East Carondolet

I spent the afternoon within view of the Gateway Arch. I also was in view of the blimp that was circling the ball park. I tried for a picture, but no luck. Knee high corn I sampled on Sunday is now waist high. Beans were either just coming up, or not planted. I walked a bit of waist high corn. It felt like a warm summer day today.

North

We went north in the Pike county river bottoms at Rockport. Where we worked, soil moisture was not too excessive. Crops looked good. We had to walk corn. Soybeans were just coming up if planted at all. We also worked right at Winchester and crops were in similar sage and condition.

Raymond

I stayed in till noon today. When I headed for the field, I noticed some threatening looking clouds. When I got there, the clouds seemed to thicken. I sample 80 acres and decided to give it up. The ground was wet, but solid. Corn had just been planted. Later we went to Greenville. It was very wet south of Hillsboro.

Hunnewell, MO

We took a rather long road trip to Hunnewell MO. It was too wet to work anywhere. Drove through some rain but it was not too bad. The Bad thing was about 2 inches of rain in 2 day s left everything wet. Corn is pretty small in Northern Pike Co, IL. Also in MO, north of Hanibal.

Scott County

I tired to work in Scott County today. It was very wet from Winchester and north. Unfortunately that was where I wanted to work. I headed south to Carlinville and Chesterfield. I finished 2 customers for the year and finished corn on one.

Carlinville and Chesterfield crops looked pretty good. I would say 50% of beans are planted. IL crop report says 57% planted in our area. I think that is optimistic. They are growing slow for the moment. They say 99% 0f corn is planted. I think that is accurate at this point.