With growing season more than halfway complete, Stine agronomists are busy helping farmers scout fields for insect and disease pressure and determining if fungicides and/or pesticides will help protect yields through harvest. Learn how crops are shaping up throughout the Midwest.
Region 1 (central Minnesota/west central Wisconsin)
Stine RSA Justin Oden notes that most all corn has reached silking stage, and flowering for soybeans is right behind. Region 1 is a little ahead of last year by 4–5 days. Early and some really late-planted corn looks really good. Some that was planted mid-season isn’t looking as good as growers experienced very wet conditions in a lot of areas; Region 1 is seeing some emergence issues or yellow-looking corn because of the wet conditions. South central Minnesota has some pockets that look really rough because of all the moisture, but on the edges, they could see some garden spots with some very impressive yields. Region 1’s largest Stine grower in west central Minnesota reports this could be a record year for him!
Region 4 (northwest Iowa and eastern Nebraska)
RSA Todd Schomburg reports that things are looking good for the southern part of Region 4, and there’s potential for a great crop. However, if you get north of the Highway 18 corridor, they experienced late snow, late rain and later planting, so crop progress is really from one extreme to the other. There has been some fungicide application on corn, with corn-on-corn acres sprayed first. Beyond that, there has been a small percentage of growers who sprayed additional acres depending on the hybrid and whether it would benefit from the application or not. Todd notes he’s seeing more soybeans being sprayed with fungicides than in the past, mostly to protect yield.
In the western part of Region 4, corn is starting to dent. In general, in northern Region 4, they are about 10 days ahead of heat units and the southern part is 12–14 points ahead of heat units. The crop is moving along quickly because of the environment and growing conditions.
Region 8 (north and central Missouri)
Stine RSA Mike Eckels notes Region 8 is very dry north of I-70, and corn and soybeans are not looking good in that area. South of I-70, things are looking pretty good, especially Stine® 9814-10, 9709 and 9744-20, which look excellent in the plots and the fields.
On the soybean side, Stine 36LEO2s and 38LE02s continue to impress. New Stine GT27™ numbers 40BA02 and the 41BA20 look great. Not much replant was done this year, but some fields had to because of dry conditions. The second crop of soybeans are going to have a tough time making it because of the dry conditions.
Region 13 (south central Illinois)
In Region 13, Stine RSA Stefanie Ray notes corn is in the dough stage. Aerial applications of fungicide were done 10+ days ago. Disease has been controlled very well by application. Non-treated fields have gone from virtually no leaf disease present 14 days ago to some fields now showing lesions on the upper canopy.
Soybeans are continuing to bloom and pod. Fungicides were applied before r3 in a lot of fields because of tall plants. Moisture has been very adequate, but cracks in the ground are starting to show up in the dark soils. With the last rain, soybeans are looking to finish strong. We are looking at well above average corn yields (maybe 20 percent) and potentially record soybeans.
Region 16 (north central Indiana, southwestern Indiana, northwestern Ohio)
Stine RSA Bill Kessinger notes that in central Indiana, the corn crop is quickly accumulating GDUs, putting it about two to three weeks ahead of normal. However, the crop in northwest Ohio is slightly behind because of excess spring moisture that delayed planting. The rainfall has been spotty, but the corn and soybean crops look better than the region has had in the past couple years. Bill reports they have seen gray leaf spot in corn and frogeye leaf spot in soybeans in small isolated locations, but not enough to be concerned as of yet. The Stine LibertyLink® GT27 seed production fields continue to impress from emergence to canopy to pod set. Everyone is anxiously waiting for combines to run through the new corn numbers and soybean trait platforms.