There is no doubt that the 2019 growing season has been full of ups and downs. First there were the relentless rain events that delayed planting in the spring. Next we had an extended period without any rainfall late in the summer. And then, when it was about time to think about getting out in the...
Hello! My name is Chelsea Harbach and I am the new commercial agriculture Extension educator located at the Northwestern Illinois Research and Demonstration Center outside of Monmouth, Illinois.
I come to you from "out west" in Ames, Iowa where I lived for four years while working on my Ph.D...
Foliar fungicides in corn - a historical perspective. From the early 1970's through the mid-2000's, when prices averaged close to $2 per bushel and corn was considered a lower value crop, producers worked to minimize all but the most essential inputs. Between 2010 and 2012, when...
When applying post emergence herbicides in several of the Northwestern Research Center's soybean fields over the last week or so, research specialist Marty Johnson noticed large clusters of Japanese beetles feeding on volunteer corn plants. When one beetle lands to feed it tends to attract a lot of...
Join personnel from the Northwestern Illinois Ag Research and Demonstration Center for their 36th annual field day on July 26. Buses will leave the research center (321
Since the Hill and Furrow blog began in April 2012, a conscious effort has been made to keep its author (me) in the shadows so as to not distract from article content. However as Friday, June 23 will be my last day at University of Illinois Extension, major changes will be coming to the Hill and...
Last growing season (2016) a new corn disease called bacterial leaf streak (BLS) was confirmed in Illinois for the first time in DeKalb County. Symptoms of BLS include narrow yellow, tan, brown or orange lesions with wavy margins that occur between and along leaf veins (Figure). While symptoms of...
You might have always wondered whether there was some way to estimate when your corn crop is likely to reach the silking and black layer growth stages. Well you might just be in luck if you gather the following information about a particular corn hybrid (when it was planted, where it was planted,...
A significant black cutworm flight (9 moths) took place overnight May 3rd to 4th at the Northwestern Research Center in Monmouth. Along with rain, the recent weather system (which looked like a giant clock-wise turning hurricane over the middle of the US) likely carried North black cutworms....
Whenever a growing season ends, a lidded rubber box that houses my scouting supplies moves out from my vehicle's trunk and gets moved into the my office to make way for the lidded box holding my winter weather survival gear. Come spring, the scouting box gets restocked and switches place with the...
