Crops growing well so far

The stage is being set for yield potential this fall as crops are rapidly growing here in Central Illinois.

There is corn entering the V9 or V10 growth stage around Springfield where it has been dry for the past 10 days.

“We are starting to see corn roll up pretty hard,” said Brandt technical agronomist Kyle McLellen.

The intensity of the sunlight is what’s driving the corn to reduce leaf area more than anything.”

Much of the corn is growing well and finally getting a dark green color.

McLellen has observed flowers on early April planted soybeans, even over a week ago. The general thought has been that beans start to flower with the summer solstice and would calibrate flowering by night length.

“With early planted soybeans and GDU accumulation by early planting, we are starting to see flowers much earlier and that’s a big component of these high yields we’ve seen in soybeans the past couple of years.”

Fields that lack good surface drainage were compromised with a heavy rainfall event earlier in the spring with ponding water. Those areas are also behind on growth.