Enough water...

Even our John Deere dealer has had enough water...

An example of what the wet holes or most of the end rows in our area look like.
This corn will yield nothing; and there is a lot of these holes in central & western Illinois.

Japanese beetles are back and they are hungry!

Most of the beetle pressure remains in the first 40' of our soybean fields,
but as corn begins to pollinate this week they will migrate into it and begin clipping silks.

Not much to report this week. It was too wet to spray or do any ditch bank mowing. We hauled a few loads of corn, but the Illinois River rose to flood stage and it became too dangerous to load barges on the quick current. The forecast looks promising for the next 7-10 days and we hope to wrap up spraying our soybeans.

Spring 2010 Video

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What a shame...

Why would anyone mow down this beautiful corn and right along the highway...?

On Friday we made room for the new water line heading into Ashland.

GSI's first million bushel grain bin in Illinois - and it's located in Ashland. Home of RPA Farmers Coop (www.rpafarmers.com).

That's the equivalent of 5,000 acres of 200 bpa corn all in one bin...

Loading one of the trucks for another run to the elevator along the Illinois River.

This week was spent hauling corn to the Illinois River at Havana & Beardstown. Between rain showers we sprayed more of the soybeans to get rid of the weeds. We are also adding an insecticide around the borders as the Japanese beetles are chewing on the outside 40' of beans; not to mention the local rose bushes. Most of the equipment is washed up and put away with a few exceptions. A few corn fields are starting to tassel as of this weekend. This upcoming week we will continue spraying soybeans, hauling corn, and begin the 4th of July mowing of ditches and roadbanks. The hot and humid weather along with weekly rainfall continue to bring the crops along at a tremendous pace.

Happy Father's Day!

Dad spraying corn on the Lathom farm.

A view of the new corn seedlings we planted in our drowned out spots.

Less than 24 hrs. after this picture was taken, it rained another 2.5" and the water drowned out our second planting in these holes.

Impressive picture of a corn plants sheer vigor. I have seen corn plants grow up through the center of a cob, but never through the middle of the previous year's stalk...

*Photo courtesy of Zach Ferguson.

This week we wrapped up the last of our corn herbicide spraying. We also finished side-dressing as we applied an additional 40 units of nitrogen to our water damaged fields to try and "perk up" the yellow corn as well as give the roots more oxygen by running the applicator knife deep in the soil.

We also finished our 2010 planting season on Monday when Dad finished planting the remaining acres at Williamsville. The soybeans that were planted there a few weeks ago are growing fast, unfortunately the volunteer corn from last year's tornado is also growing fast. When the weather permits, we will head to Williamsville to spray the soybeans in an attempt to eradicate the volunteer corn.

As the week wrapped up we began spraying what we hope to be the last pass of herbicides on the soybeans around Ashland and Pleasant Plains. Just as the crops are growing fast, so are the weeds.

Corn growing weather...

Dad spotting in with the two-row planter.

Corn following corn at LWJ.

A view of our first planted soybeans in Morgan County.

No soybean planting this week as Mother Nature kept us out of the fields at Williamsville with more rain. Unfortunately, we learned that we will also be replanting a few acres at Williamsville due to hail that accompanied the three inch rain a few weeks ago. Wrapping up the remaining acres and working on the replant acres will be our top priority the next time the soil dries enough up that way. This week we put the finishing touches on our planned side-dress acres. David and Bob also logged a few hours on the two-row planter touching up wet-holes that drowned out in the corn fields around Ashland. This replant corn may not yield much, but we hope it keeps the weeds shaded out and puts a little "green" in those bare spots. Dad also got caught up on spraying corn and is now waiting to finish up the last few acres. We will start spraying soybeans soon as well. The past few weeks' hot and humid weather are bringing the crops along fast. We are receiving weekly rains which are helping the corn root down through any possible compaction. Most of our corn is on-track to tassel by the 4th of July. Some of the tallest corn in our area planted the last day of March is over chest high...