Troy Ingram, Extension Educator in Greeley County: We have been extremely dry here for about the past eight to nine weeks, receiving only about 0.75 inch of rain in that period. Dryland corn on lighter soils is in very bad condition. I don’t think rain will help it at this point. Some beans are still holding on, also depending on soil type. Pastures are also suffering. Irrigated crops look good for the most part. Livestock producers are starting to get concerned about feed for the winter as the first cutting of hay was down from last year and second cutting was nonexistent unless under irrigation. I have had phone calls and visited fields in all four of my main counties dealing with questions about dicamba drift. It seems as if it is everywhere this year. (7/25/17)

Wayne Ohnesorg, Extension Educator in Madison, Pierce, and Antelope Counties: In a couple recent soil tests there was no moisture in the top few inches but normal moisture down to three feet. There appears to be a lot of dicamba drift from corn into soybean fields. Most of our corn has tasseled and is in the V5-V6 stage. Soybeans are flowering. We're hoping for rain. (7/25/17)

Jenny Rees, Crops Extension Educator in York and Clay Counties: We're seeing southern rust and western bean cutworm in corn and growers are doing a good job of scouting. In many areas fields may look worse than they are at the current time. It would be hard to put a dollar value on that rain we got last Monday unless you didn't get that rain. (7/25/17)

Sarah Schlund, Crops Educator in Dawson, Buffalo, and Hall Counties: Most soybeans are either in the flowering stage or starting to set pods right now. There are only a few fields of corn that are not tasseling yet, but the majority are fully pollinating and are in the early kernel developmental stages. A few fields of sorghum are starting to develop heads. Most have taken their second cutting of alfalfa and baled it and some are on their third cutting. A lot of insecticides were applied in the past week or two in the corn fields. I saw some Japanese beetles feeding in a soybean field this morning in Hall County so growers should be keeping an eye on their corn and soybean fields. Western bean cutworm larvae have been an issue this year in our area so lots of insecticides were sprayed for that and rootworm beetles. Grasshoppers are causing some damage in the field too. I have seen some bacterial leaf streak in the area and we are concerned with the recent reports of southern rust too this early in the growing season. (7/25/17)