This week’s crop progress report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service reports that of the 18 states that planted 92% of the 2021 corn acreage, 37% have corn at the silking stage and 6% at the dough stage. The corn crop is still looking strong for many growers, with 13% in excellent, 51% in good, 25% in fair and only 8% in poor and 3% in very poor condition. For soybeans, 48% are blooming and 14% are setting pods. Soybeans are also on the fair-to-good side, with 10% as excellent, 51% as good, 29% fair, 7% poor and 3% very poor condition. We have more reports coming in from our Stine® regional sales agronomists (RSA) this week.
Dustin Ellis, Stine Region 4 RSA, central Iowa
“Just in the last few days, a large percentage of our Stine corn has started to tassel and, in most of my area, we had some timely rains ahead of it. The corn is looking really good and healthy. Virtually no disease is present in our corn this year. We have been very pleased with the emergence and stand counts from our new MX Series Corn by Stine lineup and the overall health of our products.
“The Enlist chemical program is again doing an excellent job of controlling those hard-to-tackle weeds. One thing we need to remember is that even though the Enlist chemicals are working so well, we cannot start cutting back on our pre-emerge and post-emerge residual products. In order for this technology to stay strong for years to come, we have to continue using full rates and timely applications.
“We are on track again for a great fall with some excellent yields on both Stine corn and soybeans.”
Tony Pleggenkuhle, Stine Region 10 RSA, southeast and south-central Minnesota, northeast and north-central Iowa
“In Region 10, soybeans are currently in the R1/R2 stage. Corn started tasseling last week with some pollen being thrown this week. Soil moisture is adequate for most of the region with a few areas starting to experience some moisture stress. Chlorosis was prevalent this year in some areas due to wet planting conditions, but soybeans in these areas are beginning to develop a large enough root mass at this point to start pulling out of it. We have quite a bit of phytophthora showing up in these wetter-planted areas as well.
“Preventive fungicide applications to combat tar spot have begun in the eastern part of the region. I haven't been called to view as many dicamba volatility-cupped soybean fields as last year, but I'm still seeing some cupping in fields bordered by Xtend soybeans and cornfields sprayed with dicamba-based products. Fortunately, the cupping hasn't persisted for as long as in prior years due to the excellent growing conditions in most of the region supported by adequate rainfall. Some rootworm larvae are present in cornfields as of last week. Rootworm feeding hasn't progressed to more than 1/2 node of damage to date. Japanese beetles are present in high numbers in a lot of fields, and I've also come across some surprisingly high aphid counts in southeast Minnesota.”
Brian Burnell, Region 16, northern and central Indiana
“Crop conditions have been all over the board this growing season and currently are no different in Region 16 in the northern half of Indiana. In my travels, I have seen beautiful tasseling corn and I have seen some weak-looking corn barely knee high. Sometimes just miles from each other. We had been in a bad dry stretch for most of the region until a week or two ago when many areas got some much-needed rains for both corn and soybean crops. We will need a lot of timely rains for some later-planted corn and soybeans to catch up. MX Series Corn by Stine seems to be living up to the hype and looks great so far. And clean Enlist soybean fields are a great sight this summer considering how tough it was to get in some of the crop this year.”
Kevin Ryan, Stine Region 14 RSA, the mid-South
"We’ve had a lot of heat stress the last 30 days in Region 14. It’s been in the upper 90s and into the 100s every day. What’s surprising (in a good way) is that the cornfields have had pretty good grain fill. We’ve had good pollination, and grain fill continues to move along. Our hybrids look great, especially Stine 9817 and 9816.
"On the soybean side, we’re experiencing what looks like a lot of dicamba volatilization. It looks pretty widespread across the states in the mid-South, and it has really started to show up in the last week. The heat stress doesn’t help either. We recommend growers keep a close eye out for it. We’re running tests to confirm it’s dicamba. Stine growers can reach out to their local rep to help with testing as needed."
Paige Harris, Region 15 RSA, Michigan, New York
“As we approach mid-growing season, most corn has started tasseling and the soybeans have flowered. Most of the region is facing drought issues. There are a few pockets that have gotten an adequate amount of rain. With the drought, we will wait to see what happens to the corn as it is in a vital stage. Most of the region looked great when it was planted, so if we receive the rain soon, we should look forward to a good crop.”
Tanna Parrish, Stine Region 29 RSA, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama
“It has been a challenging growing season. We’ve had little to no rain most of this summer. Some areas didn’t have any rainfall from April 2 until July 10, with record-setting heat on top of that. We have some corn being harvested now in north Florida and some silage throughout my region. We have some soybeans being shipped to south Georgia today to be planted after silage. Farming doesn’t ever seem to stop in the South! The positive we can take from this year so far is seeing how our products can handle such hot and dry climates. Luckily, our hybrids look to be able to handle these environments even when stressed to the max. Always try and find the good in difficult situations.”
To learn more about crop conditions in your region, contact your local Stine independent sales rep.