Tomorrow brings the end to another summer month of highly variable rainfall in Illinois. This month was the wettest August on record in Freeport (12.82") and 5th wettest in Rockford (8.88"). But it was also the 6th driest on record in Quincy (0.72"). #ilwx

Defensive soil zones are evident in WC IL and NE MO. Kernel depth, soybean seeds and seed size are decreasing fast in these zones. Good reminder of why zone sampling > grid sampling.

Dealing with wind damaged corn? Here’s a few tips to help pick up more bushels.

Took out a fungicide plot in a heavy tar spot pressure field in NEIA this past weekend. To say the least, the visual and yield differences were stunning. Look forward to hand-shelling some ears of both treatments to compare the flex of kernel depth for this hybrid. Crop-Tech Consulting

With a thin (55k avg) soybean stand, which option would you favor? 1. Start over 2. Thicken up 3. Leave as is ⁦ ⁦⁦Crop-Tech Consulting⁩ ⁦Ursa Farmers Co-op⁩ ⁦Kris Ehler⁩

The 5 stages of an I state drought: 1) "it's nice not having any mud" 2) the lawn gets a little brown 3) "so and so had to dig a really deep hole and said it's powder all the way down" 4) double check crop insurance guarantees 5) 230 bushel corn

April showers bring May flowers. May flowers bring… big yields?? ⁦Crop-Tech Consulting⁩

When answering y-drop vs. coulter sidedress questions, I often refer back to this plot from 2017. Small corn, very little rain after application, no inhibitors used, and the y-drop still came out ahead at harvest.Crop-Tech Consulting

There’s a lot going on when planting corn. Sometimes we forget to open a valve and it makes for a nice check. ⁦Crop-Tech Consulting⁩

Every year this field is beans, the Canada geese graze about 2 acres along the edge of the drainage ditch. Does #AgTwitter have any solutions?

Titus silty clay loam in the Mississippi River Bottoms. Gumbo soil doing gumbo things

The Mother’s Day to Father’s Day 5-week stretch this year is the driest on record for Western Illinois.

Low K levels are not the only areas showing potassium deficiencies now. Potassium uptake requires water uptake. ⁦Crop-Tech Consulting⁩

Peak water use is fast approaching for early planted corn.

The dry June has brought out the spider mites. Be on the lookout for yellowing soybeans downwind of your brown lawns and road ditches. Crop-Tech Consulting

Nice 1/2” shower rolling in

Surprised to find similar sized ears on the same hybrid in the same field despite a 3 foot difference in plant height. Potential may not have been lost, but risk has increased. ⁦Crop-Tech Consulting⁩

Lot of fungicide questions and decisions now. Last year we saw lower disease pressure in many places, but not NE Iowa. 5th wettest July on record in Decorah with heavy rains to kick off tar spot. 2023 has started very dry, but we aren’t out of the woods yet. ⁦Crop-Tech Consulting⁩

PSA: Height doesn't equal maturity. Ken reminds growers that the unevenness this year for most didn’t come at emergence but because of delayed crown root development, giving us plants of different heights but same maturity. Scout to make sure all get pollinated. #AgronomicMinute

Dry weather put some early stress on this ⁦Crop-Tech Consulting⁩ hybrid flex plot. Feeding a family of 36k made for some hungry hybrids. Looks like there was still plenty to go around for 22k. Interested to see how this will affect ear size by hybrid.