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Carrie Winkelmann, Tallula
Menard

Conditions: We received 0.8 of an inch of rain last Friday and had mostly cloudy conditions on Saturday. The rest of the week had beautiful drying conditions. Corn is drying and I think the late heat this summer has kept the diplodia from taking over fields, although its presence will still be felt. Late beans are chest high with pods filled out all the way to the tip top. Early beans are starting to turn.

Conditions: We received 1.5 inches of rain on Friday, Aug. 13 and had a couple of spotty showers with no accumulation throughout this week. The corn is turning quickly and it sure smells like harvest time, although I do not expect to see combines out in our area until after Labor Day. The soybeans look excellent and I have seen no SDS showing up as of yet.

Conditions: The heat and humidity were oppressive last week. The 0.43 of an inch of rain received on Tuesday night cooled it off momentarily. The milk line on the corn kernel is halfway down the kernel. Beans are doing well despite the heat. Our pumpkin crop is doing well, except for the giant pumpkin plants that never did recover from the spring hail. I hear from farmers in Mason County that the pie pumpkin farmers are having a rough time again this year, and there looks to be another pie-filling shortage.

Conditions: It was warm all week except for the 0.2 inches of rain that fell on Wednesday afternoon. The warmer weather has given area farmers a chance to put up their second or third cuttings of hay. It looks like diplodia will be an issue once again for local corn farmers as evidence of the disease can easily be spotted driving down most roads. Soybeans really took a growth spurt the past few weeks and are now setting pods within the top 2 to 3 nodes of the plant. No sightings of soybean aphids as of yet.

Conditions: We had 1.3 inches of rain last week. The large amounts of rain we have received directly following pollination has caused diplodia to become a large problem in area cornfields. There is hardly any insect pressure in either corn or soybeans. Planes have been out spraying fungicide on soybeans.

Conditions: It was a pretty uneventful week on the farm. No measureable rain. Hot conditions are causing poorer-looking areas of fields to show heat stress. A lot of farmers are out mowing.

Conditions: Rain has been scattered throughout the area this week. We only received 0.25 inches of rain, but there were places in the county that received much more. Pollination is ongoing. The yellow planes have been out spraying foliar fungicide. Wheat harvest is complete, although reports of low test weight have been brought to my attention.

Conditions: With only 0.6 inches of rain last week, the growing conditions have been perfect for herbicide application. We finished spraying beans and patched in those wet spots that never came up in the bean fields. I believe that most were able to take advantage of the good weather last week and get any beans that were not already planted in the ground. The weather has also been excellent for pollination and the corn is doing well. A lot of hay was cut and baled last week, some for the first cutting. Wheat harvest is in progress. On a more sour note, I finally gave up on half of my hail-damaged garden. Dug all the potatoes, saved two rows of beans, and four rows of popcorn, but other than that I am starting over.

Conditions: With 2.84 inches of rain last week, it was impossible to get in the fields to get any spraying done. The beans seem to be doing well, except in the wet spots where they never came up. I am not sure if it will ever get dry enough to patch in some replant. We still have many farmers in the area who have not gotten their bean fields planted. The weed pressure is coming fast and furious. There is some good looking corn throughout the county and in some of our earliest-planted fields tassels are starting to emerge, but there are some equally horrible looking fields that show just how much damage working in wet fields can have after doing it for three years. Japanese beetles showed up the end of last week.

Conditions: My apologies for missing last week's reporting. My dad was having heart surgery, but all went well. He is one tough farmer! We had 1.7 inches of rain in the last seven days, faring better than most of the neighboring areas who received much more. Corn is just over head high to me (5'9") and looking good in all but the wettest spots. Mudded in the last 4 acres of beans June 9, so some of our beans are just coming up and others are putting out the second trifoliate. Wet spots look bad but stand counts taken last week averaged 115,000 beans per acre (drilled).

Conditions: We started planting beans on May 28 and got three good days in the field before getting a small shower that sent us home for the afternoon on Memorial Day. Had good weather and were back in the field on June 1, but a 0.75 inch rain that night has kept us out since. The beans planted on May 28 have emerged. Corn is coming out of the hail damage and is at stage V 8. Corn around the area is spotty due to the 9.5 inches of rain received in May.

Conditions: Our farm was hit hard by a 15-minute hailstorm on May 25. About one-third of the corn crop was damaged, our entire pumpkin crop, and a good portion of the plants in the garden. The corn will grow out of it, but will show a yield loss I am sure. The pumpkins are going to have to all be replanted, but I think the garden will pull through with minimal replanting. The area saw spotty storms and hail has been a problem area wide. We received 2.84 inches of rain this week with 2.13 of it coming with the hail on May 25. So far this month, we have seen 9.45 inches of rainfall. We have been held out of the field and still have no beans planted.

Conditions: Most fieldwork was at a standstill last week because of wet conditions. We received a total of 2.6 inches of rain last week with 2.17 Monday, May 17. The earliest corn we have planted is at stage V5 and looks remarkably well for the cold and wet weather conditions we have had since it was planted. Beans are starting to emerge on area farms.

Conditions: We received a total of 2.29 inches of rain last week, taking our monthly total to 4.01 inches. Finished spraying corn last weekend (May 8-9), but decided to hold off on planting beans. In the county, I would estimate that 100 percent of the corn crop is planted and emerging and soybean planting ranges from farmers who are completely finished to farmers who have not started. We had frost last weekend (May 8-9), but no damage from it to our crops. Farmers in the county have started their first cutting of hay. The small amount of wheat planted in the area is headed out and looks to make an average crop.

Conditions: Corn is at V-3 and looking good. After a wet weekend, 1.02 inches of rain, we finally got back to spraying corn on May 4. Ninety percent of corn herbicide applied as of May 7. Soybean planting started full force May 6 in our area. We have yet to plant a single soybean on our farm, but should start May 8 (weather permitting). On the lookout for corn rootworm, but no insect pressure found yet.

Conditions: Editor's note: Carrie is a new Cropwatcher this year. The 1.1 inches of rain we have received since we finished planting corn on April 22 has greatly aided the majority of the corn to excellent emergence with the rest spiking through as I write. One day of spraying down, many more to go. No beans in the ground on our farm, but some in the area have started. We emptied all of the storage on our farm over the last couple of weeks. Grain condition was good (no damage) with corn averaging 17.2 percent and beans averaging 13 percent. Total rainfall for the month of April is 2.3 inches.

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