Crop Conditions
Number of bushels per acre is high on their list of priorities, but it’s not necessarily their No. 1 concern going into 2026.
As crops go into bins, growers will be looking to maintain quality until their marketing opportunities improve. Some ongoing management practices are vital to the process.
While many farmers in the state were delighted by the results the 2025 season delivered, that wasn’t the case everywhere. In some areas, Mother Nature delivered a series of agronomic problems that dominoed and turned a potential bin buster crop into one that was average at best by harvest.
Agronomists answer farmer questions about the role of nitrogen and other nutrients in lessening the potential impact of yield robbers such as southern rust and tar spot in corn.
Corn yield champs say annual soil testing is the best way to make sure fields are up to the goal of delivering profitable high yields every season.
After three straight years of having a May-planted crop that outperformed corn planted only a few weeks earlier, some Illinois farmers are ready to throw in the towel on planting corn before the calendar turns to May.
The new product also addresses other key issues in soybeans like frogeye leaf spot and septoria brown spot.
With low commodity prices and higher input costs, identifying hybrids that are a good fit for your soil types and environmental conditions is more important than ever – and can give you a leg up on yield performance from the get-go next spring.
With contributing factors ranging from insect pressure to disease and environmental stressors this season, agronomists say farmers face hard decisions on when to combine their crop in affected fields.
Third-generation farmer Amy France and team at NSP are on a mission to improve buyer demand for the crop domestically and abroad.
Herbicides and defoliants are commonly used by farmers in southern regions to quicken the harvest period and reduce the risk of shatter loss and poor test weights. Now, Midwest growers and researchers are looking at how to use the practice.
Survey results from University of Illinois ag economists show how farmers are making corn and soybean nutrient plans for 2026 and what current price trends are for N, P and K.
There are no easy answers to address the cost of fertilizer and other inputs, but having conversations with suppliers and financial providers now can help you leverage your buying power and minimize potential impacts from marketplace uncertainties.
It’s a head-scratcher situation: some Illinois farmers are reporting moisture levels in their corn are dropping only one point per week.
All it takes to spark a flame sometimes is a single high-temperature source in the engine area or an overheated bearing that ignites some dry plant material. Take control of the situation in advance by having a brief plan ready to implement. Communicate it to your family and employees.
Use one or more of these tips to reduce expenses, reallocate resources and build a fertility program that works well for your farm and gives you some peace of mind in the process.
The crop took it on the chin this season, with some Iowa farmers reporting huge yield losses as harvest gets underway. A one-time fungicide application helped, but it wasn’t enough to buck severe disease pressure, allowing it to return.
The crop is drying down rapidly, given the weather conditions across much of the country. Agronomists are concerned farmers will combine fields too late and advise starting at 13% moisture or even higher.
Detailed daily field scans and predictive, AI-powered multispectral imaging capabilities are hitching a ride on a SpaceX rocket launch and will soon be available to field agronomists, grain and commodity traders, and even farmers.
Agronomic specialists are encouraging farmers to make their corn harvest plans now, prioritizing which fields to combine first and so forth. Evaluating how well the crop is standing on a field by field basis can help you plan the process and minimize having to pick up down corn.
If the legal challenge succeeds, the federal court decision would result in making the technology unavailable for sale or distribution to U.S. farmers.
Kernel depth and fill contribute significantly to yield in newer hybrids. It’s one reason a ‘Hail Mary’ fungicide pass might still offer ROI and keep corn standing until combines roll.
A prematurely collapsing ear shank stops grain fill, leading to yield reductions that can reach as high as 40%.
The Midwest crop is being pushed into black layer (R6) prematurely in some areas in ways that are easy to confuse with normal drydown factors.
The disease is causing turmoil for farmers who have a large crop in the making. In some cases, a Hail Mary fungicide application at R4 up to early dent (R5) might make sense this season, say agronomists.
On the heels of Crop Tour, Pro Farmer projects corn yields at 6.1 bu. below USDA’s August estimate, while soybean yield numbers are nearly aligned.
The Minnesota corn crop is going for gold. Pro Farmer Crop Tour scouts expect the crop will reach a record 202.86 bu. average, if it can outpace southern rust and tar spot. Scouts peg the Iowa corn crop at a 198.43 bu. average, but it also faces disease challenges.
Iowa could be the nation’s top state this year for corn and soybeans, but both crops are in a race to beat disease pressure that’s gaining momentum. Illinois corn continues to ride the struggle bus, while the soybean crop there is positioned to deliver high yields.
There is still up to 55% of the kernel dry weight left to be accumulated by many corn hybrids at this point — starch that can contribute significantly to grain fill and higher test weights.
Elevated levels of the disease are trending currently, and are of ‘serious concern’ over the next eight weeks, say researchers.