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July 19, 2019 It appears that 2019 could be a very heavy Japanese Beetle year. To prepare for dealing with this pest, below is some information on managing Japanese Beetles in both corn and soybeans:
Soybeans: Now that most of our soybeans are flowering, we should scout them for percent (%) defoliation. To determine if an insecticide application is needed, estimate the percent defoliation on randomly selected... |
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July 18, 2019 Managing nitrogen is one of the most difficult and unpredictable things that grain producers need to do. In a world where environmental concerns come to the forefront more and more, nitrogen management deserves attention. Fall application of nitrogen is popular among retailers and farmers in Illinois. One reason is that it spreads the spring workload out. The first caution with fall applied nitrogen is that it is not recommended... |
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July 15, 2019 In many parts of the state we have been plagued by saturated soils from a very early time. We continued to get record rainfall from April, when most farmers would think about planting, all the way through today. This has caused not only late-planted soybeans, but soybeans that in a lot of cases were planted into less than ideal soil conditions and are experiencing continued saturated soil conditions. This has caused soybeans to take a long... |
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July 10, 2019 We often talk about evaluating the components of yield from plant population to pod number per plant to seed number per pod and seed size. However, the number of pods a plant can set, retain and grow to maturity appears to be the most promising factor to influence with good management practices. Seeds per pod and seed weight have a much smaller impact on final yield.
There are three facts we should acknowledge: ... |
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July 09, 2019 The topic of planting soybeans early and with lower populations was something I talked about in depth with growers as an easy and affordable way to set up soybean field yield potential from the start. Unfortunately, as the weather did not cooperate for much of the state this spring, many plans for early planting and decreased populations began to slip away. With growers looking at fields of soybeans that weren’t planted “according to plan”... |
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July 08, 2019 Soil Health Action Plan:
Tom Kentner and his wife, Susan, farm more than 1,200 acres of corn and... |