Crop Talk by IAS – 06/17/26

Crop Talk by IAS – Field Scouting Update | June 17

Post applications are moving quickly as weather windows open, but field conditions continue to vary across Iowa and southwest Wisconsin. What we’re seeing in the field right now is a mix of progress and pressure—recent storms, saturated soils, and rapid weed growth are all shaping how this season is unfolding.

In this week’s Crop Talk, the agronomy team shares boots-on-the-ground insights on spray timing, weed control challenges, early crop stress, and what growers should be watching next.

In this episode, the team discusses:

• Post herbicide progress in corn and soybeans across regions
• Wet conditions, storm damage, and crop recovery (leaning, yellowing, compaction)
• Waterhemp and grass pressure increasing with delayed applications
• Spray considerations including gallons per acre, adjuvants, and coverage
• The “150 rule” and how heat + humidity impact herbicide performance
• Adjusting tank mixes and AMS rates based on conditions
• Early-season stress showing up from excess moisture and sidewall compaction
• Alfalfa insects and disease, including aphids and leaf spot management
• Early disease risk in corn following wind damage and leaf injury
• Fungicide planning and why preventative timing matters
• Planning ahead for resistance management and future herbicide programs

Conditions still vary field-by-field. Staying timely, adjusting to weather, and continuing to scout will be critical as we move deeper into the growing season.

Featured this week:
Nick Thompson - Southwest Region Agronomist (Ellsworth) 
Owen Heetland - Northwest Region Agronomist (Cleves) 
Melissa Schumann - Northeast Region Agronomist 
Nicholas Giesseman - Host and Eastern Region Agronomist 

🎧 Listen now
Have a question for the team? Send it to CropTalk@InnovativeAg.com

To learn more about Innovative Ag Services and our agronomy services, visit InnovativeAg.com/Agronomy.

Produced by IAS Communications in partnership with My Four Creative.

Transcript

Nicholas Giessman 0:00

Welcome to Crop Talk, brought to you by Innovative Ed Services, and this is our Field Scout special. Each week from March through October, our agronomic team shares timely boots on the ground updates from across the IAS Java so you can make confident decisions as the seasons change. Today you'll hear a quick regional update from RIAS Agronomist, including what we're seeing in the field right now, what to keep an eye on next, and a few practical scouting reminders you can put to work this week.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Thanks, Nicholas. This is Nick Thompson from the Ellsworth location, uh covering Hamilton County, Story County, Harden County, and Webster County. Right now we're sitting at a getting through all of our corn posts, and a lot of the bean posts has started to be applied here. As we look out in the fields, we're not seeing a whole lot of bug pressure or disease pressure yet, but pressures that we are seeing are from weeds and just the weather. We had some big storms this last week. Um, some crops were blown over, but they popped back up out of it. And as we get towards the south of the region where more rain has fallen, we can see that some of the corn has started to yellow from too much water. It's just important that we get out there and we keep scouting. The rest of the season, I feel like it's gonna be a game of the short runs here, where anytime we can get out in the field and spray, get those weeds knocked down, it's gonna be a big ask, and we need to get out there and do that. So season's not over yet. Just keep looking at your crops. The weather's gonna be presenting us with some challenges coming up here, but we just got to keep pushing through it. I'll send it to the northwest here with Owen.

Owen Heetland 1:53

Thanks, Nick. This is Owen Heatland at the Glees location covering Grundy, Butler, Franklin, and Harden County. Uh kind of the same scenario here, maybe had been a little drier on, but have caught up with rain significantly over the last uh, I would say two weeks. Um, I would say that corn spraying is most likely 95% complete in this area. Um, we do have a lot of seed corn to in the Grundy County area of my region. That spraying is probably I would say 80% complete, and then beans are probably 50 to 70 percent complete. Uh because of the rain, we've seen uh some weeds really, really start to get large on us, grass and water hemp both. Um, and water hemp have been especially tough to control, especially in the corn acres this year. Um, we've had more resprays than I would say would be normal because of probably the size of water hemp, and then some of the HPPDs just not being as effective as we would like them to be. So as Nick said, in the in the short times we get, we got to continue to uh be spraying it diligently. Um when we are spraying, especially beans, uh, most of the mixes are going to be that Liberty and Liszt mix, and so we need to make sure that we've got enough water, 20 or more gallons, make sure that we have the right adjuvant load. Um, you know, using the rule of 150, which we can talk a little bit later on in the podcast. Just making sure we're doing all of those things because as it continues to rain and stay warm, the weeds are going to continue to get larger. So, with that, I will kick it off to Melissa in the northeast region.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Thank you, Owen. I'm Melissa Schuman here in the Alcator office covering specifically Clayton County here in the extreme northeast corner of Iowa. Up here, we just finish up a majority of our post application on the cornfields. The corn is starting to really take off, so being diligent about checking the height to make sure we're following our herbicide labels. Uh, in alfalfa fields, we are seeing lots of aphids present, and we are diligently checking and looking at okay, how far away we are from harvest on whether an insecticide application or harvesting is your best mode of defense against that. We are also seeing alfalfa diseases present, uh specifically a leaf spot. Um, it will limit the regrowth and uh the next cutting's yield potential. And the best option against that is cutting it off to clear off the disease to uh allow the plot crop to reset here and uh get our yield potential back up there for the next crop. So, with the wet weather that we've been having, that is something that we have been keeping an eye on and looks like it's not going to change in the near future. On corn, we are our stress spots are really starting to show out here. Uh, we've got some fields that are showing uh the results of sidewall compaction from pushing that plant to early in the field. So being out there diligent about anything you can do, any top dress uh micros that can kind of help alleviate some of those symptoms and relieve some stress on the corn, is what we're looking at. And then being diligent about when we can get back out in the field as it is currently raining here to get on those post applications on the bean fields. With that, I'm going to send it down to our eastern region to Nicholas.

Nicholas Giessman 5:35

Thank you very much, Melissa. This is Nicholas Giesman from the southeast here in Cascade, covering Dubuque in Jackson County. Um, kind of just like everybody else said, very wet here in June. Uh I think month to date, we range for anywhere from six to ten inches of rain down here. So we were dry early. We definitely caught up here in the last couple weeks. Looking at that, that's causing some yellowing corn, just with you know, the roots not having to grow to find moisture. So some fields look a little rough. Um, definitely gonna be able to grow a lot of that. Post spraying on corn, almost wrapped up, got a little bit left to do, and then we're gonna start rolling into the bean spraying. I know Owen kind of mentioned already adjuvants, water, um, just making sure we stay up at 20 gallons, making sure we're getting the right coverage on our plants. Um, Owen, you kind of you know talked about the one to 50 ratio. Go into that a little deeper for me.

Owen Heetland 6:31

So basically, we're looking at um heat and humidity. Um, if we you know, we want that, we don't necessarily want that over one fifty, but we don't want it a long ways below there either. So um when we're looking at that, Liberty obviously wants bankers' hours, so you want to be spraying probably I would say between nine and five, you know, depending on the day and how big the weeds are, you're gonna fudge that a little if necessary. But with that, you want 20 gallons of water at least, and then you want plenty of AMS. And so what you've got to remember when you're using AMS or Class Act is an easier liquid product to use, is make sure you're you're getting enough AMS for the water you're using. So if you're using the same rate to spray 12 gallons on your corn and 20 gallons on your beans, you probably need to adjust that rate accordingly. Now, when we look at heat and humidity, if we start to get over that 150, you know, if it's 90 degrees and 85% humidity, all of a sudden we're up at in the 170s, we probably need to back that oil load off. And you need to look at not just your adjuvant, but what products you're using for a residual. If those products are oily, then we need to adjust such as Outlook is probably the oiliest of all of them or dual. Um, and then if you're adding section three, which is an oil-based product, you need to adjust that load of destiny that you put in. So it's kind of a day-by-day basis. On the flip side, this week, when we've been spraying it, it's been cooler, it's been not as humid. So you need to bump those oil products up to make sure we get enough oil in there. Um, that's really what we're looking at there.

Nicholas Giessman 8:16

Awesome. So, yeah, I think that's something to reiterate is the plan that we may have in place with these growers and our customers, you know, in December, we need to definitely make sure they're looking at it. We're looking at a day-to-day as it goes from 90 degrees and 80% humidity to 65 degrees and low humidity, where yep, you need to keep that oil up to get the heat that you want, to get the control that we need. So with that being said, I don't think there's really anything else you know, major going on. It's raining today down here in the southeast, but a couple other things want to touch on. You know, I was walking a field uh, you know, looking for some stuff because uh there's a rumor going around that there is tar spot in Dubuque County. So um as as I'm out walking fields, now it's one more thing to look for. Is anybody else around the area seen any disease pressure like that? Any tar spot or anything else in the field showing up this early?

Owen Heetland 9:07

You know, out here in the west, I haven't really seen uh a ton of disease, but I will say, and and I'll defer off to Nick when I get done talking, the storm that we got about a week ago, we had some really, really high winds, and at least around the Cleves area, almost all of the corn was laying at a 45 degree angle to uh, if I remember correctly, to the south. We got some really, I think here in Cleves it was 58 or 62 mile an hour wind combined with wet soil, it really pushed the corn over. Now, the vast majority of the corn has stood back up and looks okay, but if you get down, you do see a little bit of goose necking. Um, so with that rain, with that wind, excuse me, uh, you're obviously gonna have some leaf tattering. And so there is your instance on where you have a spot to get into the plant. So I would expect uh disease to, you know, it has a wound, it has a spot to get into the plant, so that will become prevalent at some point. Did you see the same thing down there, Nick?

SPEAKER_02 10:12

Yeah, I completely agree with that. I mean, uh, when I I walk fields uh uh this weekend and then going into Monday, and you'd still see some fields that were just flat from that storm that we had, I believe, on Thursday. The corn popped up on, I don't think I had any that fully green snapped and died, but it popped out of it. And uh beyond that, like you said, there are definitely those scars from the wind uh and those leaves whipping on each other and that. So I could definitely see a good amount of uh disease pressure coming up this year just from the beginning. I think it's gonna be a big uh fungicide year for us, and just with the way things have been going, what kind of diseases are you guys thinking of being perfect for this environment? For the most part, I'd say that we've had pretty cool days, and then when we get this moisture, it becomes it comes in bunches, which is kind of leading me towards good year for tar spot.

Owen Heetland 11:12

Yeah, I would agree on the tar spot. Last year, when rust was such a big prevalent issue, um, it was quite a bit warmer. Now we're still early in the season. This rust can still blow up from the south, but um conditions now would lead me towards towards uh tar spot. But I most of the companies do a really good job with disease prediction maps. So that's something that we will continue to look at as we walk fields to help us predict you know what disease you would see where. How uh out there east, Nicholas, how have you seen a tar spot yourself or just you know, just isolated uh areas?

Nicholas Giessman 11:54

Isolated so far, you know, that that report came from northern Duke County. Um so definitely when I heard it, it's let's go out, let's you know, check, especially like you said, after these wins that we had over here as well. You're seeing some some tears, some rips, you know, so going out and checking stuff. Haven't seen any yet, but you know, you kind of have that that feeling in your gut, it's just inevitable. When is it gonna show up? You know, when do we start managing it? You know, having that plan in place now with our customers to make sure that we don't let this this get out of control. You know, the corn's there, you know, there's a long road ahead of us, you know, make sure we're we're staying in front of these diseases that are coming.

Owen Heetland 12:32

Yep, I would agree with that. Have you really seen any disease up north at all, Melissa? Or I know you guys are a little bit behind of where we're at.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

Not in the corn field. We haven't been seeing the disease. Most of the disease presence has been in alfalfa fields, um, but we're watching them diligently. We also had a lot of corn that was laid out flat. Um, and then we have some sporadic fields that had significant hail damage as well. So lots of holes throughout the uh leaf leaving lesions open for that disease to enter. So I think it's gonna be a widespread year for uh fungicide and due diligence there. We're setting ourselves up for a pretty good potential here. So um, and with our oversaturated soils on top of it. I know our corn that went down, we got a heavy rain after before that corn was able to come back up. And uh significant amount of dirt was splashed up on the next three, four leaves, um, leaving that residue on there as well. Did you guys see that?

Owen Heetland 13:37

Yeah, I would say so. I mean, um, it took quite a while for that corn to stand back up, and then we got wind and rain again today, and supposed to get it again this weekend. So that'll all point towards disease inoculation at some point, especially if this corn is lean on a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

Or I think it's just gonna be important for people to remember that these products are more preventative than they are curative, and we're gonna need to get out there before you see any disease in the field and get that fungicide on to get the best result out of it. It kind of like killing the weeds. They like to see the weed die, they like to see the disease go away, but a lot of the times that's not gonna be your best course of action. And I think that's gonna be a very important thing, and maybe even some a little bit earlier than we would usually go on some of these fungicide passes.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

So along that line, Nick, I've had a couple growers asking that had some late planted corn. Would you say that putting a like a quilt or a lower action uh fungicide in with a post-pass uh herbicide spray would be beneficial to them or not?

SPEAKER_02 14:49

That actually has been a big talk in my area for the past year or so. We've seen mixed results. Sometimes you can get up to you know eight to ten bushels out of it. Other times you look at it and it it didn't really make a difference. So, really, what it comes down to in a year like this, I could see it possibly making a difference, I would think. But uh depending on how late that corn is and when you'd be spraying the post would probably be the big thing that I'd be looking at. Right now, just from my ballpark here, I would think that once we get into July, it'll kind of be not necessarily free game, but that's definitely when we need to be looking for disease and and actively making sure that everything's staying off our plants. I think we're disease is gonna come pretty early this year, I feel. And as long as we're not spraying that post with the fungicide pass on, you know, June 20th, then you might be able to see a little bit of a return on that.

Owen Heetland 15:52

Yeah, that's a a good point. And it brings me to something else. So I mean Nicholas have talked about this before, but you know, if you're if you're planning on using a a product like uh say Resicor or Halix or Akuron, where you want to spray that corn when it's pop can high, I don't know that you're gonna get your bang for your buck out of it because more is gonna hit the dirt than than hit the plant. And so I think it's targeting uh where you do that at. And the other point that that wants to bring that I want to bring up then is we've had here in Cleaves at least, we've had a lot of issues where um, you know, maybe a pre didn't get on because it was wet this spring or something happened, or we had a lot of issues too where a pre did get on, but we didn't get rain for two weeks, so it didn't really work. And so then we've got bigger weeds when we're spraying post, and we've had some products that just didn't work like we wanted them to. So we've had to go back and rescue some stuff here and there. And so I think it's just a good reminder for guys when we're doing chemical in December, we've got to remember what happened uh with what what we did this year. So I think that the the times of you know waiting and spraying once probably should have gone away a while ago, but they definitely need to, you know, we need to look at something else. The the pre-corn looks the best. Um, and then honestly, anything with uh uh you know a group or uh N HPPD and then some sort of whether it be Dicamba or Stinger in the post pass uh probably looks the best from what I've seen. Um and that may be different in different areas of the state. It seems like our water hemp resistance here, and um I'll let the you you guys talk about that, but it seems like it's you know starting here and moving northeast. So I would assume that Melissa, you would see it later than we would. But remembering, you know, next year when we do our chemicals, that we've probably got to change some things and add some things and and do some things different than what we have been doing.

Nicholas Giessman 18:05

I will second that as well. I know when I first started, I was an intern out west, and then got hired full-time up in the northeast. The chemicals and the programs that Owen was running in the West and then move up to the Northeast, and we were still one pass pre, one pass PopCigh, and the weed pressure out west, the water hemp especially was coming in hard, you know, and now it's slowly trickling. So, you know, I think we can take something from what's happening out west to make sure that we can get a better, you know, rein on what's coming over, what's gonna be here as these water hemp problems keep getting worse, it seems, every year, you know, to make sure we're taking the right notes. If that's going to a two-pass, if that's making sure we're adding dicambas in, you know, stuff like that. We do have to look back on the previous year, like Owen said. Don't forget what happened this year or last year when you're making decisions. And then, you know, kind of rolling into that fungicide, back to that, you know, with all these wins and rains, we had a lot of guys that wanted to spray at pop can high for their post pass, you know, pop bottle high. And they were just not able to do it. Got the wins, they have some lesions now. You know, and like I said before, this is a rolling decision, everyday, you know, heat, humidity, weed pressure. So some of these growers are hey, I got some lesions, I still have to make my post pass, you know, at V V3, V4. Like I wanna said, not a lot of you know, foliar to take that in. Now we're V5, V6. You know, there's a lot more opportunity to get that on the plant. You know, so now we're we're throwing that product in that whether that's a two a two-mode or whatever product you may you may have in your shed to get a fungicide out there on these on these acres that have been damaged. So there's definitely opportunity there.

SPEAKER_02 19:52

And then just touching on what Owen said here, making sure that in December, when we comes time to pick out your chem plans uh and you're meeting with your agronomist, that we're not just running the same chem plans over and over again on your same fields. Uh, that's how we end up developing that resistance. A lot of times it can be easy if it worked well last year. You want to immediately go back to that. But I'd urge just uh listen to your agronomist, and uh if they bring you a new product or a product that you haven't used before, remember that it could better your weed control in the long run, having a different active ingredient out there that those weeds aren't used to.

Nicholas Giessman 20:35

You know, I think with all said, seeds in the ground, stuff came out. We got rain. Let's just make sure, you know, we're not done yet. Let's make sure we're out there checking our fields, looking for disease, making sure we're doing everything right for this crop as we move forward. That's all for this week's Crop Talk by AS. Thanks for tuning in. If any of our listeners have questions, feel free to email them to crop talk at innovativeag.com. Be sure to like, follow, and subscribe so you don't miss next week's update. And if you know a fellow grower who'd value a quick field snapshot, share this episode with them. For more agronomy resources and to connect with your local IAS team, visit Innovativeag.com and follow Innovative Ag Services on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. We'll catch you next week on Crop Talk.