Agronomic Insights

Early hailstorms are usually not as devastating to our corn crop because it is
usually not large enough to sustain substantial damage (out of the ground for less than three weeks) or in some cases has not yet been planted.

Each year during grain fill, maturity, and harvest, many questions begin to surface about head diseases. Portions of bleached heads surely get everyone’s attention as the crop begins to show symptoms of Fusarium Head Scab and/or Blight.

Clearfield sunflower, a non-GMO crop was released in 2003. The resistance gene in Clearfield sunflowers was transferred through traditional breeding techniques into commercial sunflowers from a wild population found in Eastern Kansas.

Planting is perhaps the most important part of establishing a good wildlife plot. For sunflower, good soil to seed contact is important. A firm seedbed is a good foundation for establishing the desired stand and plant population. Good soil moisture is important to even emergence.

With soybean planting completed in some regions, seedlings are emerging in early planted soybean fields.

Phytophthora root and stem rot is a common disease in soybeans. It is caused by a fungal pathogen, Phytophthora sojae (P. sojae), which is prevalent in poorly drained soils with high clay content, Ohio and eastern Indiana are known for such soils.