Northeast Ohio Agronomic Crops Progress Report

Finally after almost three weeks of waiting, some planting progress to report. As of Saturday May 7th a tour of Northern Trumbull County recorded very little planting activity. As of Wednesday May 11th in the same area almost 40 to 50 % of the corn was in the ground. Yes Virginia, those 16 to 24 row planters can work miracles and don’t you just love modern agriculture. Unfortunately that was Wednesday and by Friday the rains are falling and once again everything is on hold. On Thursday evening we received 1.15 inches of rain. What was special about this event was that the majority came down in 30 to 45 minutes. With the ground barley dried out from the last rains will stall field work for a few more days. Now on Friday afternoon another downpour has started. The short range forecast is for off and on rain into next week. Hold on to your hats this could be a bumpy ride before we get to the first of June.
It is still too early to switch to shorter season hybrids but it is not too early to locate them if you need them. It would also be a good time to locate some additional soybean seed if your game plan is about to change. Concerning Soybeans, it would also be wise to get that seed treated. There is a good chance that you will be planting into wet ground and treated seed is insurance against seed diseases. As Ann Dorrance, OSU Plant Pathologist, points out you do not want to plant this crop twice this year.
From now on, one of the most important things you can do is to scout your crops on a regular basis. Starting with wheat, you need to be able to identify leaf and other diseases. This hot weather is an incubator for wheat disease. The only thing you can to do to prevent it is identify the problem and apply fungicide at the right time. This week’s Agronomic Tip of Weeks by OSU Plant Pathologist, Pierce Paul. He points out what to look for and when to treat your wheat crop. Another pest to be on the lookout for is Slugs. All of this wet weather is ideal for slug development and infestation. Slugs do not like hot weather but if we go into a cool period with all of this moisture and late planted crops there could be trouble down the road. You need to scout and scout often once the crops are in the ground.

Northeast Ohio Planting Progress

Corn; Over the entire area, close to 20% is planted with areas reporting over 50 % planted.

Soybeans: A few acres in the ground but most are being delayed until the corn is planted.

Oats: 70% to 80% done. Not many acres planted due to the late season and the time of year.

Wheat: 70% side-dressed and herbicides applied. Some leaf disease is starting to show up. Early diseases like powdery mildew seem to be suppressed by genetics in the Northeast Ohio crop. However, the later diseases like Septoria, and Stagonospora blotch are of greatest concern at this time. Once the wheat goes into flower the focus of concern will shift to Head Scab. One treatment will not take care of both. Application timing is however, critical.