30
Apr
2018
Many farmers in our area have finally started planting while many others are getting ready to start. I wanted to share a few reminders with you as you fine-tune your planting operations to ensure the best chance of success om 2018.
Categories: Agronomy, NE Illinois, NW Indiana, Michigan
Tags: planting, Agronomy, Agronomy Update, Planting Depth, Product Placement, Mike Hannewald, Planting Populations
15
Jun
2017
Many areas of the Midwest have been experiencing a significant amount of dry weather over the last few weeks. Because of this I have received a number of calls and questions from farmers regarding floppy corn (rootless corn) syndrome. In this video, I am in East Central Illinois in a field that was planted on May 10, 2017. Since planting, this area has gone through a significant dry spell, which is uncommon for the area.
Categories: Agronomy, NW Indiana, E Central Illinois
Tags:
7
While scouting fields in Northwest Illinois last week I assessed a corn field that suffered from severe damage that resulted from a storm that brought 3 in. of rain and softball sized hail when the corn was at the V4 growth stage.
31
May
Did you know that Septoria brown spot (SBS), also know as brown spot, is the second biggest disease threat to soybean yield after soybean cyst nematodes? Since SBS has the potential to reduce soybean yields more than most farmers and agronomists realize, it's important to implement additional attention and control measures to manage this disease.
23
Mar
Beck’s agronomist, Chad Kalaher, provides an update to last week’s wheat webinar on freeze damage.
Categories: Agronomy, NE Illinois, NW Indiana, E Central Illinois
Tags: Chad Kalaher, Agronomy, Agronomy Update, Wheat, freeze damage
26
Sep
2016
Categories: Agronomy, NE Illinois, NW Indiana, S. Wisconsin
Tags: Beck's Blog, AgTalk, Chad Kalaher, Agronomy Update, Beck's Agronomist, indiana agronomy, Illinois Agronomy, Winter Wheat, winter kill in wheat, Wisconsin Agronomy, MIDWEST WHEAT, Hessian fly-free date
20
Jul
I have received a number of calls from customers over the past few weeks, so I wanted to provide some updates on a few of the hot topics as we continue to monitor the development of our corn and soybean crops.
Categories: NE Illinois, NW Indiana
Tags: Beck's Blog, AgTalk, Chad Kalaher, Agronomy, Agronomy Update, agronomist, Beck's Agronomist, indiana agronomy, Illinois Agronomy, Fungicide, Insecticide, Disease Development, Nitrogen Uptake
In some areas, the window of opportunity for planting corn, and environmental conditions that followed, were not ideal for rapid germination and emergence. The cold soils and excessive rainfall we experienced shortly after planting has led to uneven emergence, delayed emergence, and an onset of seedling blights. We have also seen the use of rotary hoes in some areas with crusted soils.
Categories: Agronomy, NE Illinois, NW Indiana
Tags: Beck's Blog, AgTalk, Chad Kalaher, Agronomy, Agronomy Update, agronomist, Beck's Agronomist, indiana agronomy, Illinois Agronomy, Replant, Delayed planting, seeding rate recommendations
28
Most of the wheat in our area was planted between October 1-10, with the majority planted by October 7. Along with timely planting, the warm fall promoted excellent fall growth and tillering for overwintering. I noticed a few challenges this spring where seeding depth was too shallow or significant residue created poor seed-to-soil contact. I continue to see that the best stands are the ones where residue has been evenly-distributed and lightly incorporated with a vertical tillage tool or disk prior to seeding. No-till also continues to work well where the seed is placed deep enough for good seed-to-soil contact.
Tags: Beck's Blog, AgTalk, Chad Kalaher, Agronomy, Agronomy Update, Head Scab in Wheat, Wheat, agronomist, Beck's Agronomist, indiana agronomy, Illinois Agronomy, wheat growth stages, fungicides in wheat, flag-leaf growth stage, leaf diseases in wheat
21
Oct
2015
Soil fertility tests can be a moving target since soil chemistry is constantly changing, the soil is a living organism, and crop removal is different each year. Because of these and other factors, results can be dynamic over time. Potassium soil test results this fall have been lower than expected, even with a proper history of recent K2O fertilization. In talking with several farmers and reputable Midwest soil testing lab scientists about these results, lower potassium readings have led to many questions this fall.
Tags: Beck's Blog, AgTalk, Chad Kalaher, Agronomy, Agronomy Update, agronomist, Beck's Agronomist, indiana agronomy, Illinois Agronomy, soil fertility test, soil potassium readings, crop removal of nutrients
Other than cool soil temperatures during much of April, most farmers experienced near ideal soil conditions (moisture and texture) for planting corn. For April-planted corn, 10-15 days to emergence has been a common range. As of May 6, all the corn I have looked at that was planted on or before April 24, has emerged. If you have corn that was planted in April, that has been in the ground for more than 14 days and has not yet emerged, a field visit may be necessary to determine the cause and evaluate the potential need for replant.
Tags: Beck's Blog, AgTalk, Chad Kalaher, Agronomy, Agronomy Update, agronomist, Beck's Agronomist, indiana agronomy, Illinois wheat, Indiana wheat, Illinois agornomy, corn emergence, Illinois corn, Indiana corn, soybean emergence, wheat growth stages, Illinois Soybeans, Indiana Soybeans
29
Some areas throughout my geography began planting corn as early as April 1 - 6. Other notable planting windows have been April 10 - 17 and April 21 - 24. Soil texture and moisture have been desirable for field work in these areas, however, cold soil temperatures and rainfall forecasts have been a concern recently.
I have been asked several questions about the number of days required for corn emergence...
Tags: Beck's Blog, AgTalk, Chad Kalaher, Agronomy, Agronomy Update, agronomist, Beck's Agronomist, indiana agronomy, Illinois agornomy, corn emergence, Illinois corn, Indiana corn
24
With the cold temperatures we experienced last week, I wanted to share some key points on the effects of freezing temperatures on wheat. Some of this information is courtesy of our regional product specialist in Ohio, Mark Apelt.
Tags: Beck's Blog, AgTalk, Chad Kalaher, Agronomy, Agronomy Update, agronomist, Beck's Agronomist, indiana agronomy, wheat fields, Illinois wheat, Indiana wheat, Illinois agornomy
2014
Soybean Emergence Issues A large amount of soybeans were planted throughout the area May 7-12. Unfortunately, on May 14 the weather turned unseasonably cool and wet, with daily high temperatures only reaching the 50s for four consecutive days. Sulfur Deficiency in Corn Sulfur is an essential nutrient for crop production. Historically, however, sulfur has not been a common component of crop fertility programs. Sulfur has naturally been supplied through atmospheric deposition, manure application, and mineralization of organic matter. Nitrification Inhibitors for Sidedressing Nitrogen (N) Many growers are or will be sidedressing corn shortly. One question we often get this time of year is, “Do I use a nitrification inhibitor?” As is often the case, it is not an easy answer.
Tags: Chad Kalaher, Beck's, Agronomy Update, NE Illinois, NW Indiana, Soybean Emergence Issues, Sulfur Deficiency in Corn
1
CORN PLANTING PROGRESS – Predicting Emergence During April 10-12 corn planting was slow in isolated areas primarily near Springfield, IL followed by a cool, wet period. Planting resumed again April 17 in a general triangle that was formed by areas around Springfield, Bloomington and Champaign. SOYBEAN INOCULANT Part of the soybean high-yield equation includes the use of premium seed treatments. While Beck’s Escalate yield enhancement system is an industry-leading seed treatment combination of fungicides, insecticides, and growth promoter, Optimize® liquid inoculant was also offered on many varieties this year with the nematode control products VOTiVO® or Clariva™. SOYBEAN SEEDING RATE The proper soybean seeding rate has been a topic of discussion with growers, agronomists and university personnel for decades. Although final, consistent and uniform stands of 100,000-125,000 soybean plants/acre has generally been accepted to maximize economic return, many factors can influence the optimum seeding rate.
Tags: Chad Kalaher, Beck's, Agronomy Update, NE Illinois, NW Indiana, Corn Planting Progress, Predicting Emergence, Soybean Inoculant, Soybean Seeding Rate
17
ADD ZINC TO YOUR STARTER FERTILIZER PROGRAM One of the common questions I have been getting lately is definitely not a new one. “Should I be using liquid starter fertilizer at planting for corn?” While some farmers in the Midwest have been using starter for many years, others are just getting started. TISSUE SAMPLING FOR HIGHER YIELDS Have you mastered the “Seven Wonders of the Corn Yield World” and “The Six Secrets of Soybean Success?” Most likely, your answer is “No, but I give it my best shot to control what I can!” Although Dr. Fred Below’s recipes do not include foliar nutrition, plants lacking optimum levels of macro and/or micronutrients usually fail to produce high yields.
WHEAT CROP STATUS UPDATE The wheat crop in our area has gone through one of the coldest winters on record. Growth stage currently ranges from Feekes 2- Feekes 4. Using October 12 as a planting date, we are 321 wheat growing degree days (GDDs) behind the previous year through April 12. If we have average temperatures in the last half of April, this will correlate to a two week delay. Given that some fields didn’t get planted until the last week of October, we are closer to a delay of 3-4 weeks.
Tags: Beck's Blog, Beck's Hybrids, corn seed, soybean seed, Chad Kalaher, Agronomy, Beck's Agronomists, Beck's Agronomy, Tissue Sampling, Wheat Updates, Adding Zinc to Fertilizer Program, Zinc