By Nicolle Ritchie and Angie Gradiz
Weather
It finally felt like summer this past week with temperatures reaching up into the 80s. Storms on Monday and Tuesday, May 18 and 19, brought high wind, precipition and a bit of a cool-down in temperatures. The next week is forecast to be warm and dry for southwest Michigan. Temperatures will increase over the weekend and settle back into the 80s early next week.
Crops and pests
Corn and soybeans are emerging and in early vegetative stages. Planting continued, and herbicide applications have gone out on some fields. The warm temperatures have helped seeds emerge quickly, reducing the risk that they will be affected by pathogens and/or insects in the soil.
Adult moth counts have remained mostly low over the past several weeks. Bucket traps in Berrien County near Berrien Springs and Benton Harbor, St.
Winter wheat is at Feekes 10.5 (flowering). The ideal timing for preventative fusarium head blight fungicide application is right around now, and fungicide applications have gone out or are scheduled. For product efficacy against fusarium and other diseases, reference the Crop Protection Network’s fungicide efficacy tables or tool. Product efficacy should be paired with thorough head coverage during the fungicide application and high genetic resistance in the wheat variety for the best fusarium head blight prevention.
Source : msu.edu