As farmers wind up harvest in Western Illinois, focus turns to other fall field work such as tillage, applying herbicides and/or anhydrous ammonia applications. With crop budgets projected to be running in the red for the foreseeable...

The 2014 Farm Bill became federal law on February 7.  While employees at the federal United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Services Agency (FSA) office work out the policies and details of the programs, FSA and university...

As the growing season rolls on, those producers with corn that is beginning to tassel may be thinking about plant disease and whether to add a foliar fungicide to their list of inputs in 2014. Dr. Carl Bradley, University of Illinois State Plant Pathology Extension Specialist, has coordinated corn...

Although 2014 variety and hybrid selections were made long ago and foliar fungicide decisions are likely already made because of scouting that took place before tasseling, additional scouting throughout the 2014 growing season can continue to provide important information needed for future growing...

Temperature, snowfall and precipitation data listed below were collected at the Monmouth weather station located a little more than 4 miles from the Northwestern Illinois Agricultural Research and Demonstration Center (NWIARDC), while soil temperature probes are located at the NWIARDC. ...

In cooperation with the Agriculture Container Recycling Council, GROWMARK, Inc., the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association, Container Services Network, Illinois Farm Bureau, and University of Illinois Extension, the Illinois Department of Agriculture has set the dates for the 2014 plastic...

In 2013, the Northwestern Illinois Agricultural Research and Demonstration Center (NWIARDC) was one field location for a research study in which graduate student Sarah Potts (under the direction of Dr. Martin Bohn, University of Illinois Associate Professor in Quantitative Genetics and Plant...

When so many of the factors that influence crop production are out of one's control, it is difficult to overcome the urge to continuously use pesticides and practices that have proved effective. But this is what one must do to in order to effectively manage pests and pathogens into the future....

The University of Illinois Extension will be offering a Soil & Water Management Seminar on February 26, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. This program is geared toward Certified Crop Advisors, farmers and other agricultural professionals and will be held at both the Knox County Extension Office...

Temperature and precipitation data listed below were collected at the Monmouth weather station located a little more than 4 miles from the Northwestern Illinois Agricultural Research and Demonstration Center (NWIARDC), while soil temperature and moisture probes are located at the NWIARDC. ...

My fellow Commercial Agriculture – Crops Extension Educator Robert Bellm sent me a recently released article in Weed Science written by Norsworthy et al. (2014). This article details the results of research designed to study the in-field spread of glyphosate-resistant Palmer...

University of Illinois Extension is hosting the 10th annual Illinois Crop Management Conferences in January and February. Each conference is a two-day, in-depth program providing university research-based information on current crop production issues. The conference is geared toward farmers,...

Planting Progress: 2013 versus 2014. State-wide. According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, an estimated 95 percent of corn acres have been planted, and 81 percent have emerged as of...

White mold fungus. The fungus that causes white mold of soybean is called Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. This fungus spends its life in the soil as hard, black structures called sclerotia. Sclerotia, which resemble mouse droppings, help the fungus survive over harsh winters and...

The American Society of Agronomy will be hosting a Cover Crops webinar series on Thursdays in March. Each webinar is free and open to the public. Because this series is sponsored by 13 different public and private organizations, continuing education units will also be available to registered...

Each year as the first few warm spring days arrive, farmers begin gearing up to plant: checking over tractors and planters, arranging last-minute seed or input purchases, checking field conditions and checking the daily, short- and long-term weather forecasts for the region. According to...

CCA Continuing Education Units Available. Certified Crop Advisors can earn continuing education credits through in-person and online attendance of the Resilient Agriculture Conference, August 5-7, in Ames, Iowa. Most conference sessions will be live-streamed, with the exception of...

Have you always wondered what happened at the University of Illinois' Northwestern Illinois Agricultural Research and Demonstration Center just outside of Monmouth on 210th Avenue? To find out, join us at the Monmouth Country Club (1451 E. 3rd Avenue) at 1 p.m. on March 11th for...

University of Illinois Planting Date Trials. Along with numerous other biotic and abiotic factors, environmental conditions such as soil water availability and air temperature drive the growth and development of field crops. Each year, under the direction of Dr. Emerson Nafziger,...

Symptoms. When walking through several of the earlier planted soybean fields at the Northwestern Illinois Agricultural Research and Demonstration Center trifoliate leaflets appeared to be missing significant sections of leaf tissue (Figure). Upon closer inspection...