Corn is now primarily in the dent stage (Photo 1). A lot of corn has experienced heavy disease pressure this year (Photo 2). Hill ground generally looks good due to plentiful rains. Bottom ground is variable as some areas were too wet and nitrogen loss occurred.

Soybeans are in various stages of seed fill (Photo 3). Sudden death syndrome is now apparent in pockets within some fields.

The summer is moving along quickly and crops are maturing. A lot of dry edible bean fields have mature bean pods and are changing color. We will be harvesting dry beans within two weeks. Some of our dry bean fields where growers struggled with their herbicide applications have severe weed pressure. See the Photo 1 and 2 of four-foot tall Kochia and also Palmer Amaranth infesting the beans.

Corn is mostly at the milk stage just moving toward dough. A lot of corn is being sprayed for Spider Mites. The sugar beets continue to look good as growers keep the irrigation going during this hot and dry summer. There has been some treatment of Cercospora leaf spot although warmer dryer conditions do not favor this disease. Early sugar beet harvest will begin the last day of August. Alfalfa growers are mostly finishing their third cutting. 

We have some dryland corn that is struggling with the drought conditions and some other dryland crops such as black eyed peas that could use a shot of water. Sunflowers are coming through bloom and are generally deep rooted enough to get through these dry conditions. In most areas range land is getting very dry and brown.