Weeds

Visitors to the Midwest Ag Industries Expo were able to see the third-year evolution of See & Spray technology. The John Deere exhibit featured the the next edition in the See & Spray lineup.

The American Farm Bureau Federation is the “Voice of Agriculture” thanks to our active grassroots members speaking up on the issues affecting their farms.

It seems like a short month since I penned my last column, but it has been a busy month for sure, with one guy doing this, one guy doing that and some other guys doing something else.

We are finishing our last fungicide and herbicide applications. We have had a few weeds push through our early herbicide application, so we have been forced to make another pass to clean some weeds up.

Summer is flying by, as usual. With so many things going on this time of year it seems to pass too quickly and now school starts.

Can we have a “spring flush” in August? After the rains we have had, it sure looks like that in central Illinois. I didn’t get one this spring.

Farmers can choose from more than 40 different cover crop varieties that are sold today in the United States. “Cover crops support the overall sustainability and efforts of growers and livestock producers,” said Andrew LaVigne.

Planting soybeans into a cover crop such as cereal rye is a common practice, but cover crops ahead of corn is a different animal.

Greg Thoren is working to develop a healthy microbial system on his farm in Jo Daviess County. “Microbes make everything work,” said Thoren during a Nutrient Stewardship Field Day.

Soil tilth building practices should be considered offensive management tools. “Cover crops have been pushed as defensive tools against erosion, water quality problems or impeding regulations,” said Mitchell Hora.

A limited commercial release of a new nozzle control system designed to maintain consistent pressure regardless of rates and ground speed is slated for this fall.

Hefty Seed Company Princeton will host the Hefty Summer Agronomy Event from 2 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25, in the Banquet Room at Senica’s Oak Ridge Golf Club, 658 E. U.S. Highway 6, La Salle.

Syngenta announced its latest residual corn herbicide, Storen, has been registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and will be available for use in 2024, subject to state approvals.

Our sweet corn season is in full swing. We are selling in Galveston six days a week in addition to the Logansport farmers market. We also sell at the Logansport and Kokomo farmers markets.

Well, I think we may have a crop after all. I hope everyone got their much-needed rain by now. Since I plant later than most, none of my crop had seen any rain except a couple half-tenth events until the end of June.