By Nicolle Ritchie and Angie Gradiz
Weather
No precipitation fell over the past week, and temperatures were warm but not too hot. Overall, it was a good week for field work, although some emerged crops are showing symptoms of drought stress. Rain is expected over the next 24 to 48 hours and again early next week. As the wind shifts, pests from farther south that travel on air currents (such as leafhoppers and aphids) may make their way up to Michigan.
Crops and pests
Corn and soybean planting is wrapping up. At this point, most fields have at least emerged. Flaming of male rows in seed corn occurred over the past week. For tips and tricks on distinguishing seed corn from commercial corn, check out the article “Drive-by crop identification in southwest Michigan.”
This year, adult moth counts peaked early in St. Joseph County and then remained for several weeks. Moth counts were collected from bucket traps in Berrien (near Berrien Springs), St. Joseph (Centreville) and Van Buren (Lawrence) counties have caught the following.
Winter wheat is mainly at Feekes 10.5.4 (kernel watery ripe) and moving into Feekes 11.1 (kernel milky ripe). Some true armyworm (TAW) larvae are in wheat fields. The threshold for TAW after heading is 2 or more larvae per square foot. If heads are being clipped, action is recommended. In most cases, TAW populations are below threshold. Stripe rust was confirmed in the Thumb over the past week.
Source : msu.edu