Soils conditions this spring were not conducive to ideal corn plantings.With pasty subsoils that refused to dry out it lead to many a grower squeezing his ground and creating sidewall compaction with double disk openers.As usual as the compacted ground dried it lead to a restrictive layer that developing nodal roots could not penetrate.The end resolve is what you see in the development of the plants roots on the left in the photograph above.Tomahawk roots restrict the plants ability to search as much soil volume leading to less moisture and nutrient uptake which leads to less yield.

Soybean growth in no-tilled corn fields like this one planted northeast of Glencoe are much shorter than normal for this time of year - Wed July 29.The shots of the two plants below were both taken from this same field.The first plant below has not begun flowering while the plant below that has one flower showing.( Double click on these two photos for a more detailed close-up )There are thousands of acres in this same phase of maturity ( R1 - R2 ) across Southwestern Ontario.Cool night temperatures have delayed flowering by a good week to 10 days this year.Though this has some growers concerned there is really no need to be overly alarmed.Shortening daylengths will trigger flowering and it will occur at a profuse rate.Though the crop in the end may not be as tall as normal there is still a good 15-18inches of growth that can be made in the month of August.Soybeans will generally continue to develop plant height until the week of Aug 20th.The one good thing about shorter soybeans is that there should be very few concerns regarding white mould.Keep in mind that a great deal of the soybean plants yield is yet to be determined.There is still hope for a respectable yielding crop.A week to 10 day delay in flowering should only translate into a maturity delay of 3 possibly 4 days.
No flowers were yet evident on this soybean plant photographed on Wed July 29th.
Only 2 flowers could be found evident on this plant from the same field.Despite flowering being delayed by about a week to 10 days shortened daylengths in the early part of August will trigger profuse flowering and rapid pod fill development will follow suit.From a pure physiological perspective maturity of the crop is really only behind by a few days.I can assure you that soybean harvest will not be overly delayed and opportunities to plant a wheat crop in late September to early October will still occur.

Every hail event is different and has to be assessed one event at a time on its own uniqueness.This particular hail event occurred at the 11th true leaf stage of the crop.Though this event did slice the leaves some and do some minimal bruising to the stalk the overall yield reduction it will cause will be minimal.Based on the Crop Insurance Societies of America hail simulation tables it would suggest expected yield losses in the 1-2% range.The above photo depicts how the new leaves V12-V19 have developed just fine since the event occurred.
The above shot shows how the lower leaves(Leaves 5- 12)
have been shredded though very little defoliation of leaf tissue has occurred.Hail injury can cause wounds that will lead to common smut infections.When lower stalks are severely bruised it can lead to increased stalk breakage near harvest.

We know a great deal about how corn will react and perform when impacted by hail at different stages of growth based on simulated research work commissioned by the Crop Insurance Agencies of America.

The above soybean shots serve to illustrate just how bad slug damage has been this year in Southwestern Ontario.Slug damage has been far more pronounced because of the cooler wetter growing conditions that we've experienced.A number of replanted fields have been markedly damaged a second time.Growers are frustrated that there is no seed treatment or other economical chemical application that can help them overcome this aggravating pest.If you double click on the middle photo above you will see two pesky slugs chomping away.

The two shots to the left were taken of the same corn plant 2 days apart.As you can see silks can grow at the rate of nearly 3/4 inch per day under good growing conditions.

The above field of soybeans was planted this spring without inoculant.It has never been planted to soybeans before.As you can see without Rhizobium inoculant to help nodulate the roots the crop is yellow from a lack of Nitrogen production.Once the crop reaches the R3 stage it is best to apply 50 lbs of supplemental N prior to a rainfall event.This can add a nice yield boost.
The above photo shows the crops roots with no nodules evident.
The above photo shows an adjoining field of soybeans that was also planted this spring without inoculant.This field was planted to soybeans once before in the previous 10 years.It would appear that the inoculum from that one preceding bean crop has been enough to nodulate this crops roots.As you can see the crop looks dark green and appears as if it is producing adequate N.
The shot above shows how well the roots of the above crop have been nodulated.When planting Virgin soybean ground for the first time bombard the soil with high rates of inoculum.It is best to double treat seed with two different sterile inoculants that both contain Race 532C.A nice yield advanatge can be achieved by doing so.Growers farming coarse sandy soils or soils with pH's below 6.0 are best advised to inoculate their soybean crops every year to optimize yields.

There are many good catches of underseeded red clover as you travel through Southwestern Ontario.The one shown here is underseeded in a heavy stand of Pioneer brand 25R56 soft red winter wheat.Clovers are invaluable at improving soil structure.Good catches can reduce the need for Nitogen application to a following corn crop by up to 70lb per acre.Higher N prices make it agronomic sense to underseed wheat with clover.Best management practices to establish a good stand of clover include 1)incorporation of the soybean residue either by utilizing a coulter cart in front of your No-til drill or a single pass of a high clearance cultivator prior to planting 2)Inoculation of your clover seed 3)underseeding early ( preferably the first week of March 4) use of a minimum of 8lb per acre seeding rate but preferably 10 and 5)purchase of underseeding crop insurance to protect your investment.

The side photo shows how the Western Bean Cutworm phermone lure hangs from the top of a trap containing windshield washer fluid and a touch of dishwasher soap.
Over 60 Western Bean Cutworm moths have been captured to date in our WBC trapping network throughout Southwestern Ontario.All traps were numbered.The above trap was number 16 located just south of Rodney,Ontario in Elgin County.This insect pest is new to Ontario and should not be taken lightly.It can be a very ravaging insect pest.It's hypothesized that Western Bean Cutworm moths may have migrated eastward across the corn belt in response to the adoption of YieldGard BT corn.Yield Gard BT corn has provided excellent control of both the Corn earworm and European Corn borer but it has not controlled the Western Bean Cutworm larvae.Control of both the more aggressive corn earworm and corn borer has left room for the easterly migratory movement of the Western Bean Cutworm moth.The good news for producers is that Pioneer Herculex1 BT hybrids will
provide up to 90%+ control of this potentially damaging insect pest.

We've witnessed a stronger than usual relationship between plant height and seeding rate this year at the Pioneer demonstration farm near Chatham,Ontario.The shorter soybeans in all photos above were planted at 100,000 seed drop in 20 inch rows while the taller soybeans were planted at 260,000 seed drop. We have conducted plant population studies from 100,000 to 275,000 seed drop for years now and yet we have never quite experienced the differential in plant height that we are seeing this year.Of course the real proof of whether higher plant populations would have paid this year will come through at harvest.Our previous work would say that no more than 175,000 seed drop is needed to optimize yields on these Beverly Silt Loam soils at Chatham.

Ear shoot initiation and silk emergence occurs when a hybrid has reached its appropriate heat unit accumulation for reproduction.A cool backward year like 2009 favours early silking hybrids as they will start their grain fill period sooner and have more opportunity to reach physiological maturity before a killing frost occurs.They offer a much greater chance for growers to achieve better yields and higher test weight corn in a low heat unit year.The above shots were taken of the same corn plant.As you can see Silk elongation is occurring before pollen shed has started.This is exactly what breeders prefer.They have strived for years to develop hybrids with better silking - pollen shed synchrony.Breeders want a hybrid to shed its silks before its pollen as this will improve a hybrids overall yield stability.

Rainfall patterns have been sporadic again this year.As you can see by this front passing through some growers will report rainfall amounts of an inch while others will report 1/10th.
With the cooler July temperatures (nearly 6 degrees off normal)moisture concerns have not been as big an isssue this year as usual.For the most part Southwestern Ontarios' corn crop remains lush and green though later than what most growers would like to see.

The photo above is very depictive of 40% of Southwestern Ontario's corn crop that was planted between May 12 and May 19th.Though silking and tassle emergence on the 30th of July is not early it does indicate the lateness of this years crop.Another 30% will not flower or pollinate until August 7th -10th.It takes roughly 60 days from pollination to reach physiological maturity.That means at least 30% of Southwestern Ontarios corn crop will need until Oct 10th to safely reach maturity. Grain moisture contents at maturity are genearlly in the 32-33% moisture range.An open October will be needed to ensure any kind of drydown.

This shot shows the plants 17th,18th,19th and 20th final leaf.You can see the tassle beginning to extrude.Pollen has not yet been shed.
This shot shows the plants 13th, 14th 15th and 16th true leaves.If you look closely or double click on the photo you'll see silk emerging from a small ear shoot just above the node of the 14th leaf.On this particular plant an ear shoot ( though not visible )is also protruding from just above the node of the 13th leaf.
This shot shows the 9th 10th,11th and 12th true leaves.
The 4 shots above are of the same corn plant.They were taken in the manner shown to illustrate the total number of leaves an average 95-103 CRM hybrid produces.The immediate shot above shows the plants 5th,6th 7th and 8th true leaves.

The 5th true leaf of corn will always extend from the second stalk node above the soil line.By knowing this you can continue to count the total number of true leaves that any hybrid will produce.The first 3 leaves that were originally in the seed will have senesced by now and will not be found as they will have already begun to decompose .You may in some circumstances still detect the 4th true leaf as shown above extending from the first node above the soil line.Most 95 - 103 CRM hybrids will produce a total of 20 true leaves.Fuller season hybrids may produce 21 or more.

The first 30% of Southwestern Ontarios earliest planted corn acreage ( that planted between April 25 and May 10th ) will be coming into tassel within 8 to 13 days time - somewhere in the July 21 - 26 time frame.These fields are in the 14th - 16th true leaf stage today.Yield parameters such as number of rows around the cob and the number of kernels for the length of cob have already been set.

The above photo was taken at the Ontario Cereal Crop Committees' Fusarium Headblight Screening Trials at the Ridgetown Ontario Campus c/o of the University of Guelph. Pioneer brand 25R51 soft red winter wheat offers growers the best insurance of marketing grade 2 wheat.Of all the wheat varieties on the market it will provide without question the cleanest sample in regards to fusarium headblight.My recommendation to Pioneer sales reps and growers alike is to plant 1/3-1/2 their acres to 25R51 and the rest of their acreage to Pioneer brand 25R56,25R39 or 25R47.
The opportunity to blend your crop is then afforded with such a strategy.
If you double click on this photo you can grasp a good perspective of just how much fusarium headblight has infected this head of wheat.














Though not at high levels evidence of Fusarium headblight infection could be noted in wheat fields across Southwetern Ontario a week to 10 days ago.

Its been known for years that the Downey Mildew Fungus can cause Crazy top in corn but what has not been observed very often is the same crazy top disorder in wheat.Infection can only occur when plants are covered in water and their leaves are scarified by abrasive soil particles.The scarified leaf surface acts as a portal of entry for the mildew fungus.Once inside the plant it disrupts the reproductive system in a manner that causes it to produce a multiproliferate of leaves rather than grain.There is no worry of spread as the only way the fungus can cause this reproductive disorder is when soil and water cover over the entire plant at an early stage of development.

From our 50 Western bean cutworm traps in the 5 Southwest Counties ( Essex,Kent,Lambton,Elgin and Middlesex ) we have caught 8 Wetern bean Cutworm moths like the one shown above.Western bean cutworm larvae can cause devastating damage to the developing ear of corn.Herculex1 hybrids are the only BT corn hybrids on the market that can control it or at least 85-90 % of it.

Aphid colonization on new leaflet
Close up magnification of an aphid
This comparison shot was taken in 2003 at Chatham.The healthy looking soybeans were sprayed on July 13, 2003.
When aphid numbers soar controlling them can make a significant difference as shown in the above and below photo.IP growers can be particularly vulerable as shrunken, distorted and shrivelled seed can cause loss of an IP premium in a hurry.
Aphid numbers are reaching threshold levels in pocket areas north and east of London.Spraying will be warranted when 1) samples of 20 new vegetative leaflets taken from at least 5 different areas of a field ( covering 80% of the field )show an increase in aphid numbers above the threshold level of 250 per plant when soybeans are in the R1 - R5 stage of development ( flowering to first early pod set)The chart below shows how greater yield response is achieved with early spraying if aphid numbers are high enough and on the rise.