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Home / Pioneer Agronomy / 2024 Pro Farmer Crop Tour - Day 3 - August 21

Pioneer Updates - Pro Farmer Crop Tour - Day 3

Pioneer Updates - Pro Farmer Crop Tour - Day 3

Day 3 Eastern Route

Bloomington, IL → Iowa City, IA

Map - Day 3 - Route - Illinois - Iowa

Pioneer Leader - Jeff Lafrenz, Field Agronomist

Eastern IA

Jeff Lafrenz - Pioneer Field Agronomist

 

Very good emergence this spring thanks to warm and moist soils. Southeast Iowa Pioneer sales reps took over 500 stand counts in a local survey and found emergence averaged 96% of planter seed drop this spring.

 

Crop Conditions Across Eastern Iowa

- Jeff Lafrenz

Corn

We had several planting windows in between rains beginning May 13 and finishing at the end of May. Local corn is in several different growth stages due to our wide planting date window.

P1027AM corn ears from 3 counties in eastern Iowa at different stages of kernel fill on July 25

View a larger image here or on the above photo.

This was the wettest growing season to date in the past 5 years for most in SE Iowa. Below is an example of Iowa City location showing many rain days this season.

P1027AM corn ears from 3 counties in eastern Iowa at different stages of kernel fill on July 25

View a larger image here or on the above image.

  • Poorly-drained areas are showing yellow plants.
  • N deficiency can be found on some lower leaves.
  • Gray leaf spot, common rust and tar spot are leaf diseases we can find and are monitoring closely.
  • We started tasseling around July 1, and later-planted corn has recently finished pollination.
  • Locally, we are 10 to 30 days into our 60-day grain fill period. 

Soybeans

  • Soybeans found an extended planting window from mid-April to late May.
  • Late June/early July rainfall saturated soils and created many yellow areas due to roots not functioning properly.
  • Soybean nodules struggled to produce N for the plant.

    Some soybean plants in a field showing yellowing leaves

    Late June and early July heavy rains caused yellow spots in slower to drain areas due to lack of oxygen and nodules struggling to fix nitrogen.

  • Warm and wet conditions favored plant growth and quick canopy closure.
  • Unfortunately, the wet growing season has been a favorable environment for white mold and sudden death syndrome.
  • Both diseases have just started to show up in late July.
  • The photos below were taken in Cedar and Muscatine counties.

Sudden Death Syndrome

Symptoms of sudden death syndrome on soybean leaves

White Mold

White mold on soybean stem

Day 3 Western Route

Nebraska City, NE → Spencer, IA

Map - Day 3 - Route - Nebraska - Iowa

Pioneer Leader - Cale Gent, Sales Consultant

Northwest IA

Cale Gent - Pioneer Sales Consultant

Z-Series

 

Pioneer’s new and exclusive Z-Series Enlist E3® soybeans are looking outstanding! The vegetative growth and node counts are setting up a lot of excitement for yield potential this fall.

 

Corn Conditions Across Northwest Iowa

- Cale Gent

Planting Dates & Weather

  • Overall crop condition varies depending on the area you are in.
  • Much of our immediate area received record rainfall during planting this spring.
    • This caused a planting window that extended from early April through the entire month of June.
    • Multiple planting passes were needed.
    • Earliest planted corn is into R3 while later planted fields are at VT-R2.
    • There are late replant areas that are still pre-tassel.
  • Hard to believe just 12 months ago we were talking about record droughts comparing to ’88 and 2012...
  • Through the summer months, rainfall mellowed out A LITTLE (still top 10 in history for our area).
  • This spring was in the top 5 wettest for 7 out of the 9 districts according to Iowa State University IME records.
Something we are most excited about in 2025 is the addition of more Vorceed® Enlist® and PowerCore® Enlist® products to our lineup. Both platforms bring the next level of flexibility in herbicides with tolerance to Enlist. Vorceed also brings the next level of CRW control through RNAi.

Disease Issues

  • Where the crop was able to get established early and find nutrients, we will still see strong yields.
  • Where water inhibited development early, we are going to see lower yields.
  • Our environment this summer presents the risk for disease.
  • We have been able to find NCLB, GLS, common rust, and southern rust.
  • Tar spot has continued to work its way throughout the state.
  • We will probably continue to see tar spot heighten if temps stay moderate through August and as plant health begins to drop.

Some soybean plants in a field showing yellowing leaves

Tar Spot Map Courtesy of Corn IPM Pipe and Pioneer Agronomy Team

Nutrient Issues

  • The saturated environment had many operations looking at N deficiency early in the growing season due to denitrification or leaching out of the upper root zone.
  • The Pioneer Agronomy Team had an LSNT sampling effort to try to quantify trends.
    • Results were coming back 30-100# short in the worst areas.
    • This had many operations applying additional N through y-drop and side-dress applications
  •  With the yield potential in places, humidity we have had, and the risk for stalk lodging this fall in the tough areas, fungicide has been a well accepted recommendation the past few weeks.
  • While the saturated soils seem to have played a factor in CRW pressure this year, we have still had a number of fields impacted by feeding.
  • Adult beetle control has been a part of many corn on corn fungicide plans in 2024.

Soybean Conditions Across Northwest Iowa

- Cale Gent

Planting Dates & Weather

  • Soybeans overall are looking like they could be impressive this year.
  • We had some crusting after hard rains again this spring
    • Unlike last year, additional rains helped soften the soil surface. 
    • We did have replant in the drowned-out spots like the corn.
  • As expected, beans are accepting later planting better than corn.
  • April planted beans were at R3 the week of July 22.
  • May planted beans started reaching R3 during the week of July 29th.

Yield Outlook

  • It is well known how critical the month of August is for soybean yields.
  • We have the potential there right now if mother nature can provide us a strong filling period.
  • There will be drowned out spots that we can’t forget about, but outside of those areas soybeans have looked strong.

Insects & Diseases

  • Low disease pressure so far in the beans.
  • Soybean aphids are starting to show up in parts of the geography.
    • I expect to see planes and sprayers out managing those where needed for the next couple of weeks.
  • The 2025 line up of Z-Series Enlist E3® soybeans brings multiple varieties with the complete Peking gene, providing a welcome change to the majority of acres in our area for SCN control.
In 2023 Pioneer sales representatives participated in a trial to help understand current SCN pressure and the positive impact Peking brings. Results were impressive. We are going to continue to add to the data set this fall to ensure we are helping our customers capitalize on every bushel of yield potential they can.

Some soybean plants in a field showing yellowing leaves

Soybean cyst nematode pressure levels across all sites with PEKING source resistance vs. PI88788 Source Resistance.

2023 Pioneer SCN Study

Dan Uppena - Area Leader - Biologicals

Pioneer Area Leader - Biologicals - Dan Uppena

Biostimulants

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Man in field examining corn leaf and tablet screen

Crop Tour Days 1, 2, & 4

Eastern Route

Day 1 - Columbus, OH. - Noblesville, IN
Day 2 - Noblesville, IN. - Bloomington, IL
Day 4 - Iowa City, IA. - Rochester, MN.

Western Route

Day 1 - Sioux Falls, SD - Grand Island, NE
Day 2 - Grand Island, NE - Nebraska City, NE
Day 4 - Spencer, IA. - Rochester, MN.

Contact

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