1. Drought stress in corn is seen in most areas. Majority of fields have the bottom leaves of the plants browned up and dying some all the way up to the cob level. Without the moisture the corn is unable to extract nutrients from the soil leading it to pull the nutrients it has stored in the leaves and stalks to fill the corn kernels, we will have to watch from here to harvest the stalk integrity of the corn as we will be at risk for lodging and crimping over of the corn, causing yield loss and slowing harvest speed.
2. Soybeans are still a battle for growers, fighting spider might infestations and lack of moisture. Early maturity soybeans .02 to .05 have pods that have filled and will provide good yield in good conditions, the longer maturity soybeans. .8 to 1.3 have a long way to go to fill the beans they have made, some moisture would go along way towards making soybeans fill and provide yield for our growers.
3. We are moving towards fall fertilizer, soil sampling, and cover crop applications as we approach soybean harvest. We have done some sampling and started receiving some seed to apply covers to small grain acres already.
After last spring’s dirt fest and the conversations we have had with growers we suspect there will be more acres of cover crops applied.