• Mid-season field evaluations can help explain some of the yield variability we may experience at harvest time.
• Evaluating the efficacy of your herbicide program can provide information on what worked and what can be changed to achieve desired control of your problematic weeds in the next growing season.
• Mid- season is also the time to scout for diseases and insects, evaluate economic thresholds and start creating in-season management plans if pressure warrants.
• Mid-season field evaluations can help explain some of the yield variability we may experience at harvest time.
• Evaluating the efficacy of your herbicide program can provide information on what worked and what can be changed to achieve desired control of your problematic weeds in the next growing season.
• Mid- season is also the time to scout for diseases and insects, evaluate economic thresholds and start creating in-season management plans if pressure warrants. 

If you have not yet done so, now is a good time to go out and record some mid-season field notes. These notes will be valuable at harvest to help explain some of the yield differences we may see between and within fields. Areas of the field that may have looked pretty rough a few weeks ago are looking more uniform as the crop grows and the thin areas are less visible. Spots where weed control was not adequate or where stand was thin or growing less vigorously due to disease, insect damage, compaction, flooding, etc., can turn into areas with a significant reduction in yield. However, unless we keep track of what happened and when, it is hard to attribute lower than expected yields to these possible causes. A few in-season notes recorded about these areas will help you better understand any yield differences that result from potential problem fields. Another benefit of keeping field notes is that you may be able to determine which issues show up consistently year after year and come up with a plan to protect yields from these recurrent issues such as drainage, compaction, heavy pest pressure. 

As spray season is hopefully over, it is important to make time to evaluate your overall herbicide program. What worked well? What didn’t? What could you have done differently to make your weed control program more successful? What changes do you plan to make for your weed control program next year? These questions may address product choices, application rates, application timing, or all three. Keep in mind, it was an abnormally wet start to the year, which could explain some of the weed control issues. Additionally, foliar fungicides have been applied in some corn and soybean fields across most of the geography. Pathogens like Gray leaf spot, Northern corn leaf blight and Tar spot have been reported at various severity levels in corn and Frogeye leaf spot has been observed on soybeans and have been the target of those applications. Defoliation has been reported on soybeans and thistle caterpillars, grasshoppers and cloverworms have been found. Some fields reached defoliation thresholds and insecticides were warranted. Scouting is a must to determine disease presence and insect damage thresholds and to correlate that to the crop growth stage to determine the need to implement a measure. Your local FS crop specialist can help you determine the need for a fungicide or insecticide application and can provide you with a list of options for efficacious products and tools that fit you individual needs. 

If you have not yet done so, now is a good time to go out and record some mid-season field notes. These notes will be valuable at harvest to help explain some of the yield differences we may see between and within fields. Areas of the field that may have looked pretty rough a few weeks ago are looking more uniform as the crop grows and the thin areas are less visible. Spots where weed control was not adequate or where stand was thin or growing less vigorously due to disease, insect damage, compaction, flooding, etc., can turn into areas with a significant reduction in yield. However, unless we keep track of what happened and when, it is hard to attribute lower than expected yields to these possible causes. A few in-season notes recorded about these areas will help you better understand any yield differences that result from potential problem fields. Another benefit of keeping field notes is that you may be able to determine which issues show up consistently year after year and come up with a plan to protect yields from these recurrent issues such as drainage, compaction, heavy pest pressure. 

As spray season is hopefully over, it is important to make time to evaluate your overall herbicide program. What worked well? What didn’t? What could you have done differently to make your weed control program more successful? What changes do you plan to make for your weed control program next year? These questions may address product choices, application rates, application timing, or all three. Keep in mind, it was an abnormally wet start to the year, which could explain some of the weed control issues. Additionally, foliar fungicides have been applied in some corn and soybean fields across most of the geography. Pathogens like Gray leaf spot, Northern corn leaf blight and Tar spot have been reported at various severity levels in corn and Frogeye leaf spot has been observed on soybeans and have been the target of those applications. Defoliation has been reported on soybeans and thistle caterpillars, grasshoppers and cloverworms have been found. Some fields reached defoliation thresholds and insecticides were warranted. Scouting is a must to determine disease presence and insect damage thresholds and to correlate that to the crop growth stage to determine the need to implement a measure. Your local FS crop specialist can help you determine the need for a fungicide or insecticide application and can provide you with a list of options for efficacious products and tools that fit you individual needs. 

It is still too early in the growing season to hang up your hats. Many fields that looked rough earlier in the season look much better today! Stick with your plans for protecting yields, and remember that next year’s decisions start very soon.