Soybeans in certain areas are showing signs of Japanese leaf beetle and spider mite activity. For the most part, the beetle damage is not remotely close to the economic threshold.

Unfortunately, sudden death syndrome is also popping up in some fields around the county. Usually, sudden death goes hand in hand with soybean cyst nematode. If your field is showing signs of sudden death, it would be worth sampling to find out your egg count. SCN can be managed through rotation and seed treatments. 

We are now starting to dive in to IP soybean contracts. If you have IPs in the ground, you can expect to get an email or phone call over the next few days/weeks to clean that up before we get into the thick of harvest. 

Harvest is roughly a month away for early planted/early variety soybeans. It will sneak up on us! 

Soil sampling in the wheat stubble is in full swing. This is the perfect time to start your rotation of consistent and effective soil sampling, and helps to plan for P+K needs on your fields. Wanstead is proud to offer grid, zoned, and perimeter composite sample options! Take advantage of our VRT technology before it becomes busy again. 

If you would like to be added to our list for soil sampling, please call one of our branches! Please note, our current turn-around-time on soil sampling is 2-3 days.

If you have gotten sampling done, and are curious about the results, please note that it usually takes us approximately 10 days to see results back from our 3rd party lab.

Now is also a great time to start putting down fertilizer on wheat stubble (with your soil analysis), as well as plant cover crops. Planting your cover crop this time of year helps to ensure that the crop does not get too much of a top, but still establishes a good root system. Reach out to your Wanstead agronomist about your options for cover crops and fertilizer application.

• Jason: 519-330-9746
• Darrin: 519-330-9812

Additionally, now is the time of year to start thinking about preparing for fall wheat planting (Are you going to need seed?). With 2023 SRWT prices still north of $9, this crop is a profitable option to consider.

From the road, corn staging seems to be evening out. Once you get into fields, you can really start to see the difference. "Tile drain" corn cobs look like they are a week or two ahead of the non-tile drained plants. 

Less than ideal planting conditions continue to haunt a lot of the corn and soybeans this year. The wet spring resulted in limited root growth for many plants due to soil compaction.

Tar spot emergence is very low, and there are hardly any symptoms on local corn. Additionally, VOM is a low threat due to the dry weather we have been having. Usual suspects like northern corn leaf blight is occurring locally, but at very low levels due to minimal thunderstorms and moisture.

Rain was variable over the weekend and into Monday. Areas ranged from 2/10ths to 1.5" generally, with some southern areas of the county getting upwards of 4". 

Some hail damaged occurred in a small area last week, leaving some fields with significant damage. 

During the month of August, many of our staff members are taking much deserved vacations! If you cannot get ahold of someone, please call the office, and we can make sure that you get the help you need!