July 1, 2009

Tom Dorn, Extension Educator in Lancaster County: I conducted a crop condition survey through portions of northern Lancaster County on July 1. Corn looks great! Most corn is in the V12 to V14 stage of growth with about 15-20% of fields starting to show some tassel. Jim McGill from the Farmers Cooperative in Waverly reported seeing a few gray leaf spot lesions on the lower leaves of a few corn fields, especially where corn was planted into corn stubble.

Soybeans are a different story. Plants are not as dark green and robust as they should be. I counted five to six trifoliate leaves in a couple of fields. I didn't have a shovel but I pulled a couple of plants and did find good nodulation, at least in the upper part of the root system. Hopefully, with warmer temperatures and abundant sunshine, soybeans will get in gear before they begin flowering and setting pods. I did not find any soybean aphids but small 1st or 2nd instar grasshoppers were active along the field borders.