Happy Friday! Time for my weekly Follow the Field update.
It’s hot here in Central Illinois – hope everyone has cool plans for the weekend! It’s Stanford Good Old Days in my hometown (our annual summer festival), so fish fry this evening, parade Saturday followed by activities at the park and the usual fire department pork chop dinner fundraiser, then fireworks! And because I’m still involved with my old 4-H club, we’ll also be cleaning up after those fireworks on Sunday morning before the church service and then enjoy breakfast in the park. It seems like we’ve hit that point where summer is speeding by – it’s town festival weekend, then it’ll be fair week before we know it, then state fair, then back-to-school, then it’s practically Labor Day, then we slide into fall and harvest will be here!
7/19/19 Update:
Cover Crop Soybeans (63 Days)
These soybeans have taken off! There are few, if any, weeds in the field, although that really isn’t as much of a concern now that the soybeans are bigger as it was when they were just germinating. There are a few disease and insect issues present, but nothing to worry too much about quite yet. Lots more flowers on the plants, but no pods at the moment.
Corn (45 Days)
It seems like every year I forget just how quickly corn can grow. Two weeks ago, it wasn’t even up to my waist. Now it’s at least six feet tall and growing. Some fields around us are tasseling, but those fields were planted during the mid-May planting window we had. We didn’t get any corn in the ground that week as none of our fields that were scheduled for a corn rotation this year were dry enough, but we were lucky that we were able to get it in the first week of June. Fingers crossed that we get a rain shower this week to replenish the moisture lost with this heat.
No-Till Soybeans (41 Days)
Talk about a good growing week – check out the progress these soybeans have made!
Last week, the leaves barely touched between plants and there was lots of space between rows. This week, they’ve nearly created the canopy between rows. Don’t you just love this sea of green? I love the brief moment in time where you can just barely make out the rows when you’re standing still but see the lines as you drive by – almost like an optical illusion. There are a few flowers starting to blossom on these soybeans, which is a good sign.
Until next week, friends. Stay cool!