in-crop-weather State Indiana Crop Weather Week Ending Date August 31, 2003 Issue IN-CW3503 Agricultural Summary Weekend rain over most of the state brought much needed relief from the stress to major crops, according to the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service. Reporters indicate the rain will help pod fill in soybeans and grain fill in some of the late planted corn fields. Hot temperatures and very dry weather during most of the week were causing concern for corn and soybean condition. Corn harvest was underway in a few early maturing corn fields in the southwestern region of the state. Corn silage was being chopped in some areas of the state. Scouting fields for insect damage continued. Farmers had another excellent week for cutting and baling hay. Field Crops Report There were 5.5 days suitable for fieldwork. Eighty-five percent of the corn acreage has reached the dough stage compared with 84 percent last year and 95 percent for the 5-year average. Forty-one percent of the corn acreage has reached the dent stage compared with 41 percent last year and 69 percent for the average. By area, 37 percent of the corn acreage is in the dent stage in the north, 47 percent in the central region and 38 percent in the south. Three percent of the corn acreage is mature (safe from frost) compared with 5 percent a year ago and 15 percent for the average. Corn condition is rated 56 percent good to excellent compared with 30 percent last year at this time. Ninety-three percent of the soybean acreage is setting pods compared with 94 percent last year and 98 percent for the average. Six percent of the soybean acreage is shedding leaves compared with 10 percent last year and 15 percent for the average. Soybean condition is rated 56 percent good to excellent compared with 38 percent last year at this time. Major activities during the week were mowing and baling hay, attending field days, preparing equipment for harvest, moving grain to market, mowing roadsides, cleaning out grain bins and taking care of livestock. Livestock, Pasture and Range Report Pasture condition is rated 6 percent excellent, 47 percent good, 31 percent fair, 11 percent poor and 5 percent very poor. Third cutting of alfalfa hay is 72 percent complete compared with 68 percent last year and 86 percent for average. Tobacco harvest is 26 percent complete compared with 23 percent last year and 35 percent for the average. Livestock are in mostly good condition, but were under stress during most of the week. Crop Progress Table ----------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : 5-Year Crop : Week : Week : Year : Avg ----------------------------------------------------- Percent Corn In Dough 85 70 84 95 Corn In Dent 41 21 41 69 Corn Mature 3 1 5 15 Soybeans Setting Pods 93 82 94 98 Soybeans Shedding Lvs 6 1 10 15 Alfalfa Third Cutting 72 51 68 86 Tobacco Harvested 26 7 23 35 Crop Condition Table ------------------------------------------------------------- : Very : : : : Excel- Crop : Poor : Poor : Fair : Good : lent ------------------------------------------------------------- Percent Corn 5 11 28 43 13 Soybean 4 10 30 45 11 Pasture 5 11 31 47 6 Soil Moisture & Days Suitable For Fieldwork Table ------------------------------------------------------- : This : Last : Last : Week : Week : Year ------------------------------------------------------- Percent Topsoil Very Short 4 8 34 Short 29 31 37 Adequate 49 59 29 Surplus 18 2 0 Subsoil Very Short 4 6 36 Short 25 21 38 Adequate 60 70 26 Surplus 11 3 0 Days Suitable 5.5 6.8 6.7 Contact information --Greg Preston, State Statistician --Bud Bever, Agricultural Statistician E-Mail Address: nass-in@nass.usda.gov http://www.nass.usda.gov/in/index.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Agricultural Comments And News LIKELY TOO LATE FOR SOYBEAN APHID TREATMENTS * Soybean foliage yellowing has NOT been symptomatic of aphid damage this year * Aphid diseases and predators are rapidly increasing * Many aphids are becoming winged and swarming * Further treatments are not likely justified Many interacting biological and environmental factors determine soybean aphid infestations and their affects on soybean yield. Unfortunately, we don't completely understand them. We and workers in other states have been providing treatment guidelines and aphid updates in newsletters and media releases as best we can. While university scientists and others pursue the development of economic thresholds through research, some companies are exploiting this "data gap" by promoting insecticide use that is often unjustified. We trust that Indiana pest managers will see through this marketing strategy. Some have attributed yellowing of soybeans to soybean aphid damage. Yellowing of soybean foliage is caused by many factors this time of year. The primary causes that we've seen for discoloration are diseases (sudden death syndrome, white mold, and others) and manganese deficiency. Jeff Nagel, Agriliance, has made us aware of a few soybean fields that were formally hay fields that were possibly yellowed from a combined effect of soybean aphid feeding and potassium deficiency. This year, probably because of plentiful soil moisture, most heavily infested fields showed very little foliage discoloration. Several factors lead us to believe that we are nearing the end of soybean aphid activity. We have received reports from Minnesota of aphid populations crashing from epizootics (fungal diseases). One research field there had a decrease of over 80% of the aphids in a two-week period. In Indiana, we have been observing an increase in the incidence of diseased aphids in all soybean fields, and we feel that it is just a short time before a rapid population decline begins. Predators are becoming quite prevalent in infested fields. Asian lady beetle adults and larvae are obvious in many infested fields as they crawl over the leaves and stems. Information from the USDA indicates that larvae of the Asian lady beetle can consume 600 to 1200 aphids during the larval stage, and adults may consume 90 to 270 aphids per day. The syrphid fly, another predator of the aphid that is not so evident on the plant, has become annoying to some people living near soybean fields. Syrphid larvae are small yellow to green maggots that insert their pointy mouthpart into an aphid and suck out the body fluids. The adult syrphid is also known as the hover fly. These flies normally feed on nectar and pollen, but probably are feeding on aphid honeydew on the plant leaves. They are often confused with sweat bees as they swarm around us attempting to land and sponge-up (not bite or sting) our perspiration. There have been several reports of swarming winged aphids. The most publicized swarm interfered with a Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field in downtown Chicago a couple weeks ago. At the time, the "credit" was given to swarming midges, but an alert Purdue entomology student who happened to be nearby, collected specimens and had them positively identified. Swarms have now been reported in Indiana. Phil Walker, NE Purdue Agricultural Center Superintendent, noticed that on Monday, August 18, one of his buildings had a mass of winged aphids on it in the morning. This recent movement of winged aphids in Indiana corresponds well with many pest managers in the northern counties telling us that aphid populations have declined recently. Nearly all Indiana soybean fields are now at R5 growth stage (beginning seed) or beyond and most soils have ample moisture to help fill the pods. This, and the factors given above, lead us to believe that insecticide treatments are no longer justified. Any yield reductions from the soybean aphid occurred a week or two ago when plants were most vulnerable to pod abortion. Treating at this time, is truly revenge. In addition, one ag/chem dealer estimated 3-4 bushel/acre yield reduction would occur by driving through the fields and breaking over plants while treating. This article contains color photographs and may be viewed at:, pages 2 and 3. John Obermeyer and Larry Bledsoe, Department of Entomology, Purdue University. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weather Information Table Week Ending Sunday August 31, 2003 --------------------------------------------------------------- | Past Week Weather Summary Data |--------------------------------- Station | Air | | Avg | Temperature | Precip. |4 in. |---------------|-----------|Soil |Hi |Lo |Avg|DFN|Total |Days|Temp ------------------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W |96 56 75 +6 4.79 2 77 Valparaiso_AP_I |92 58 75 +6 1.04 3 Wanatah |94 57 73 +6 1.52 4 79 Wheatfield |93 58 74 +6 0.66 2 Winamac |92 59 75 +6 0.66 4 76 North Central(2)| Plymouth |93 55 74 +5 1.78 3 South_Bend |93 58 75 +7 0.61 4 Young_America |92 62 76 +7 1.04 2 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City |90 60 73 +6 1.44 3 75 Fort_Wayne |89 59 74 +6 1.38 3 West Central(4) | Greencastle |91 57 75 +4 0.70 3 Perrysville |96 59 76 +7 1.63 2 76 Spencer_Ag |93 61 77 +8 2.51 4 Terre_Haute_AFB |93 60 78 +7 0.33 2 W_Lafayette_6NW |94 60 76 +7 1.71 2 81 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP |90 63 77 +6 1.80 3 Greenfield |91 61 76 +6 0.92 3 Indianapolis_AP |93 63 77 +7 0.76 3 Indianapolis_SE |91 61 76 +6 0.24 2 Tipton_Ag |93 54 74 +6 1.05 1 80 East Central (6)| Farmland |92 59 75 +7 0.85 1 76 New_Castle |87 54 71 +3 1.64 2 Southwest (7) | Evansville |95 63 80 +7 0.40 2 Freelandville |91 62 77 +6 2.79 2 Shoals |94 60 78 +6 0.77 2 Stendal |94 64 79 +6 1.46 3 Vincennes_5NE |94 62 78 +7 1.59 3 South Central(8)| Leavenworth |93 62 78 +7 0.59 4 Oolitic |93 60 77 +7 1.60 3 79 Tell_City |95 64 80 +7 1.55 2 Southeast (9) | Brookville |93 62 77 +7 0.86 3 Milan_5NE |91 60 76 +6 1.47 5 Scottsburg |92 61 77 +6 1.00 4 --------------------------------------------------- Weather Information Table Week ending Sunday August 31, 2003 ----------------|-------------------------------- | Accumulation |-------------------------------- | April 1, 2003 thru Station | August 31, 2003 |-------------------------------- | Precipitation |GDD Base 50oF |-------------------------------- | | | | | |Total | DFN |Days|Total| DFN ------------------------------------------------- Northwest (1) | Chalmers_5W | 32.20 +13.04 58 2435 -122 Valparaiso_AP_I | 21.38 +1.53 60 2261 -74 Wanatah | 22.45 +3.12 63 2123 -112 Wheatfield | 30.79 +11.94 57 2322 +33 Winamac | 24.57 +5.46 60 2291 -67 North Central(2)| Plymouth | 21.21 +1.92 60 2206 -266 South_Bend | 18.47 -0.17 56 2310 -14 Young_America | 26.43 +8.13 57 2428 +4 Northeast (3) | Columbia_City | 22.47 +4.06 67 2243 +27 Fort_Wayne | 25.92 +8.69 56 2299 -128 West Central(4) | Greencastle | 22.64 +1.10 59 2329 -400 Perrysville | 20.41 -0.12 52 2594 +48 Spencer_Ag | 24.46 +2.38 71 2592 +19 Terre_Haute_AFB | 16.83 -3.57 49 2726 +12 W_Lafayette_6NW | 23.04 +3.94 62 2494 +80 Central (5) | Eagle_Creek_AP | 22.83 +3.53 53 2632 -61 Greenfield | 23.77 +2.57 63 2477 -104 Indianapolis_AP | 22.90 +3.60 58 2688 -5 Indianapolis_SE | 21.66 +1.73 58 2510 -168 Tipton_Ag | 26.92 +7.51 58 2284 -61 East Central (6)| Farmland | 24.03 +5.22 55 2380 +90 New_Castle | 22.27 +1.83 52 2064 -282 Southwest (7) | Evansville | 20.84 +1.43 56 3052 -72 Freelandville | 24.70 +4.45 53 2820 +16 Shoals | 24.65 +2.66 56 2770 +57 Stendal | 21.94 +0.13 47 2923 -23 Vincennes_5NE | 25.43 +5.18 74 2880 +76 South Central(8)| Leavenworth | 23.84 +1.29 76 2803 +103 Oolitic | 26.35 +5.12 64 2641 +45 Tell_City | 22.58 +0.30 49 3197 +202 Southeast (9) | Brookville | 22.26 +1.65 60 2661 +196 Milan_5NE | 27.96 +7.35 90 2571 +106 Scottsburg | 23.08 +2.17 66 2663 -127 ------------------------------------------------------------- DFN = Departure From Normal (Using 1961-90 Normals Period). GDD = Growing Degree Days. Precipitation (Rainfall or melted snow/ice) in inches. Precipitation Days = Days with precip of .01 inch or more. Air Temperatures in Degrees Fahrenheit. Copyright 2003: AWIS, Inc. All rights reserved. The above weather information is provided by AWIS, Inc. For detailed ag weather forecasts and data visit the AWIS home page at www.awis.com or call toll free at 1-888-798-9955. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The INDIANA CROP WEATHER REPORT (USPS 675-770), (ISSN 0442-817X) is issued weekly April through November by the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service, 1435 Win Hentschel Blvd, Suite B105, West Lafayette IN 47906-4145. Second Class postage paid at Lafayette IN. For information on subscribing, send request to above address. POSTMASTER: Send address change to the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service, 1435 Win Hentschel Blvd, Suite B105, West Lafayette IN 47906-4145. Source: Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service