Corn, soybean crops continue on schedule, says agronomist

BATTLE GROUND, Ind. — Don’t give up on the 2023 corn and soybean crop. That is the message that David Cosgray, DEKALB Asgrow technical agronomist for central Indiana, has for growers.

“I don’t want to wave the white flag yet,” he said.

Cosgray spoke from White County, one of the drier spots in the state.

“Both crops look surprisingly good. We still have a lot of the potential, a lot of the growing season left to go,” he said.

Cosgray urged growers to stick with the plans they have made for their crops, even though those crops may be showing signs of stress.

“Don’t give up on it. Everybody has a plan. Stick to your plan,” he said.

That includes sticking to scheduled and planned fungicide applications.

“If your plan was a fungicide, stick with that. Even in times of stress, that’s sometimes when we see the biggest return on investment with a fungicide on corn. We are extending that grain fill window and that is what we need to do,” Cosgray said.

He said that while temperatures in the first half of June have been warm and conditions abnormally dry throughout much of the state, one weather factor has helped corn and soybeans.

“We’ve had cool nighttime temperatures. Even the days when it was 90 degrees during the day, it has been in the 60s to low 60s at night,” he said.

“Those cool nighttime temperatures have been a savior and I think that’s why we look so good.”

Cosgray is advising soybean growers to stick to their schedules when it comes to herbicides and weed control.

“Beans are growing slow, but the weeds haven’t slowed down. They are still growing quickly. We might have to make another application of a herbicide later, before the soybeans canopy,” he said.

“Make sure you are spraying when the weeds are ready. Don’t wait for weeds to get extra tall, spray them in a timely manner and go for that 4-inch or under size. That is what we need to target. Don’t worry about the beans, spray when the weeds need it.”

Two dry planting seasons in a row could produce another concern for corn growers on the insect front.

“In my part of the world, we haven’t worried about corn rootworm. But the thing is — for two years now in a row, we’ve not had the early wet, cold weather to drown any larvae,” Cosgray said.

“I’m worried that the populations could increase. We could see some rootworm damage in our part of the world. Traditionally, we don’t worry about it as much as central, western and northern Illinois into Iowa.”

Cosgray said that with concerns on the rise about not only increasing numbers of corn rootworms, but also resistance to some traits, investing in a stacked hybrid could pay big rewards.

“The industry is moving to the next generation of rootworm traits. Where rootworms are an issue, without a doubt, the most important thing you can buy is a stacked, pyramided hybrid,” he said.