Scout’s Honor Weekly Report: July 3-7
This week our crop scout’s have learned a lot about the Japanese beetle and it’s effect on plants. Make sure to watch their detailed video at the end of the post. We’re also excited to hear that weed pressure is diminishing. *Every Friday during the summer we will feature their scouting reports on the blog and our social media accounts; check in to see what’s happening in our community.
Stage
The average corn stage is between V12-V16. We did find some tassels that emerged this week but it was very splotchy. Most of our territory is about 4-6 leaves from tassel. For soybeans, the majority of our territory is in full bloom.
Plant Conditions
This week we had some scattered rain that left some of the crops looking great and full of life, while others are starting to show signs of dehydration again. We are not seeing any major disease outbreaks yet but there have been a few small patches of smut that caught us off guard. The only other condition that we have to report is defoliation in soybeans due to insect feeding. This varies widely in severity across our territory and there is no real pattern to the madness.
Insects
Japanese beetles are the talk of the countryside and they have certainly invaded our territory. Evidence of their invasion is the lace-like skeleton defoliation of your soybean leaves. Please make sure someone is watching over your soybeans so that action can be taken if defoliation in your fields becomes severe enough. Check out our video below to learn more about these insects.
Weeds
Weeds are only a slight problem in corn fields around the edges, where the sun can hit the soil surface. Once you get out into the fields, they are very clean! We can check ‘weed pressure’ off the list of yield-limiting factors across our territory, which is a very exciting accomplishment. Soybean post spray is coming to an end, which also leaves most fields very clean of weeds. If your post-spray has not gone on, consider throwing an insecticide in the mix if Japanese beetles are in your fields.
Territorial Information
Rain has been very random this week, both by location and amount. As always, our southern territory is ahead of our northern territory in staging.
*Every Friday we will post The Scout’s Honor Scouting Report as long as there are new findings in the field.
Questions about this week’s scouting report? Contact your Stutsman Agronomist!