Happy Friday! Nothing too exciting to report this week. Still a few weeks to go before harvest, but the good news is that we’re now in “second summer” in Illinois (you know, the couple of weeks that comes after “false fall”), so lots of warm weather helping the corn along as it reaches the finish line.
9/13/19 Update:
Cover Crop Soybeans (119 Days)
Did you imagine soybeans being this fuzzy? (Don’t worry – all soybean plants are like that.)
Pods are filling out nicely. I could tell the difference between this week and last week without going back to last week’s photos to look.
The soybeans themselves are still green, but they’ll turn a yellowish tan color as they dry down.
See all that cover crop residue? I was surprised that so much of it is still there! Some of it has decomposed, but the rest is still doing a great job keeping any weeds from germinating.
You’ll also notice in this picture that some of the leaves are starting to yellow. This happens during the growing season – just like any other plant, leaves sometimes turn yellow and die as the plant puts out new leaves at the top to reach more sunlight. But this is likely a sign of the soybean plants slowly starting to signal that they’re reaching maturity. I haven’t noticed this in our other soybeans fields yet, but I have seen some yellowing leaves driving by neighbors’ fields that were planted earlier. Which makes sense, since this is our earliest-planted soybean field this year. Harvest probably won’t begin until October, but I expect to see more yellowing leaves in this field when I give an update next week.
Corn (101 Days)
I’m noticing some changes in this field, too. As you can see in the photo, the corn has more dented kernels than last week and the inner layer of the leaves covering the ear (also known as the husk) is starting to dry. Still a really long way to go, but starting to get there.
It’ll be interesting to see how this field yields. There are patches in this field where the ear isn’t all the way filled out or kernels near the top have been aborted (also called tip-back). With all of the moisture we’ve been getting plus the tip-back, we’ll have to keep a close eye on quality since mold can easily develop, especially if we get a lot more rain this fall. This year sure has been anything but typical!
No-Till Soybeans (97 Days)
These soybeans are filling out nicely, too! Since these were planted three weeks behind the other field of soybeans featured at the top of this post, we expect that they’ll be a little behind the other field as far as dry-down goes. Unlike corn, soybeans mature based on environmental triggers rather than based on growth or reproductive stage. This trigger is day length, also known as photoperiod. That’s why you’ll sometimes see green patches in a field full of yellow or brown soybeans where light poles are located. The soybeans that stand where the light from the pole shines don’t realize that the sun has gone down since they experience less (or no) darkness compared to the other soybeans in the field. And there’s your fun fact for the day. 🙂
And there’s your weekly update! Hope everyone survives Friday the 13th and the full (harvest) moon – sounds like teachers everywhere were dreading it. 😉
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