Follow the Field 2020 Update #10

It rained! It rained! We received about 5 inches of much-needed rain over the last week, with 4.3 inches in less than two hours just a couple days ago. It was definitely weird to see water puddled in low spots in the field, but that soaked into the ground very quickly considering how fast it fell.

July 17, 2020 Update

Soybeans (86 days)

The soybeans definitely enjoyed the rain this week. They’ve grown taller and wider, completing the canopy of leaves between the rows and growing up to about knee-high.

Like I’ve mentioned before, soybeans in central Illinois are indeterminate, which means they can have both vegetative and reproductive growth at the same time. So while the beans add new leaves and height, they’re also working on growing the soybeans themselves.

See the small pods beginning to form? This soybean plant is also actively adding new flowers at each node. For every new flower, there’s potential for a new soybean pod, which means more beans!

Here’s one of the more “mature” pods. (It’s not considered mature yet, but it is further along than most of the other pods.) It’s completely flat, but you can see that there are spaces for three soybeans. Soybean plants typically have pods that hold between two and four soybeans. We like to see pods for four soybeans because it means more yield, but three is way better than two. I’ll split open a pod next week, but right now, the soybeans are probably just beginning to form.

You can see in the photos that there’s a few holes in some of the soybean leaves. This is caused by insects. We’re closely watching in case this becomes a problem, but there’s relatively little damage and we’re not actually seeing many insects, so it’s not something we’ll try to treat right now….or likely at all this season. But definitely something we monitor.

 

Corn (65 days)

I’m not sure it’s even worth dragging the yard stick (it’s actually a 4-foot measuring stick) out to the field since the corn has definitely outgrown it.

It’s looking like a real cornfield now! And by that, I mean this is what we’ll be looking at for the next 2-3 months. And peering around as we creep out into rural intersections to try to see oncoming traffic. And eagerly watching until it begins to turn brown because that means harvest is coming soon!

The corn is just beginning to tassel. Unlike soybeans, corn plants pretty much finish growing before beginning reproductive stages.

Normally, we’d like corn to tassel all at the same time. This field isn’t all on the same page. Some plants started tasseling in the last day or so, and others are still three leaves away. You can see the tassel is still wrapped in a few leaves in the above photo. The hot, dry weather is one reason it’s not even, but the rain the other day really helped it along. Hopefully those four inches of rain can get us through the next few days of 90-degree temperatures and help with pollination. Pollination can be negatively affected when the weather is both hot and dry.

Along with tassels, another sign corn is getting close to pollination is the formation of the ear. Do you see the tiny leaf sitting between the leaf and the stalk? That’s the beginning of the ear.

This plant is a little farther along than the one in the photo before this. This ear already has silks and is ready to accept pollen from the tassel. The silks capture the pollen and will turn brown when pollinated. Each silk is connected to a future kernel.

This plant is even further along than the other two – see the crazy silk “hair”?

Now that we’re turning over to the reproductive phase, it’s hurry up and wait for this field.

I also loved the pretty pink sky during last night’s sunset. Made for some fun field photos!