Soybeans have been racing along. We were gone most of last week for the last softball trip of the summer. When I checked soybean fields, I found many fields were at the R3 growth stage and ready for the plant health application.
So, that was pretty much my week, prepping for or making plant health applications. Before we left for last weekend’s travel, I scheduled the final group of corn applications to be Tuesday. Monday, I pre-loaded the mix for the plane.
Since sprayer wheel tracks closed in, I hired a drone to do a couple of the high-yield-potential irrigated fields. Data shows drones to a better job in soybeans anyway, so economically, at the worst, it is probably a push. In an effort to beat the heat, the drone came early Wednesday morning. If neighbors were awake, they saw a strange flying object with red and green flashing lights!
I sprayed with the ground rig other times throughout the week. I’ve got a couple more fields to go next week.
I am concerned that some of the soybeans are getting too tall and are prone to lodging. It’s never good when they start to go down. Sunlight to lower branches is reduced and they don’t yield as well. We’re a long way from filling those pods. Nice, gentle rains for the next month would be appreciated!
Guarding against tar spot
We’re hoping we can get by with only one fungicide application on the corn. Nobody wants to spend any extra money on this crop with depressed commodity prices. However, tar spot can take down yields quickly, and you can’t afford to lose yield, either. Our plant health application should get us three weeks. We will begin checking fields in another week or 10 days to decide whether we need to make a second application.
We caught some rain last Saturday and Sunday, then again early this morning. Amounts varied, but we will call them an inch each time. We’re in a pretty OK moisture position right now, but not more than a week from more crop stress. I’ve seen conflicting weather forecasts for August, so we will wait and see.