March 2007 Newsletter Volume 26:3

MARCH WEATHER:			Soil Temperature (oF)
	Air Temp. (oF)	Humidity (%)	4" (Bare)	4" (Sod)
Monthly Average High	54.7	98.7	43.7	41.3
Monthly Average Low	33.9	53.3	38.7	37.9
Observed High (date)	77 (26)	100 (most)	66 (28)	62 (28)
Observed Low (date)	10 (4)	28 (20)	29 (9.10)	28 (5)

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2007 Precipitation (in inches)

Month	Monthly Total	Monthly Departure from Average	Since January 1 Total Accumulation		Since January 1 Total Departure
January	1.14	-0.48	1.14		-0.48
February	1.48	-0.42	2.62		-0.72
March	4.41	+1.56	7.03		+0.84

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Research Projects for 2007 at NWRC

Following is a list of the research projects currently planned for NWRC for this year.  There are 12 studies that involve continuous corn, either as the entire study or as a treatment in a study.  There are eight studies with corn that have a nitrogen rate component included.  There are five studies scheduled to have foliar applied fungicides as a treatment on corn, soybeans and wheat.  The number of studies in a given area reflect what the topics of interest are in agriculture today.  Stay tuned for the results.

We also have several new faces involved in research at NWRC.  Carl Bradley returns to the U of I as an Extension plant pathologist, having conducted research here as a grad student several years ago.  Fabian Fernanadez recently joined the U of I as an Extension crop/soil fertility specialist.  Ken Olson, soil scientist at the U of I, has initiated a study on the crop productivity of the top rated soil in Illinois, Muscatune (formerly Muscatine), for corn and soybeans.  Martha Smith and Loretta Ortez-Ribbing, Extension Educators, are working with nurseries in establishing a trial for perennial plants being introduced into Illinois.

As always, suggestions on research topics are welcome at the U of I research centers.  Many of the research ideas have been generated from questions asked by farmers. Communication between farmers and researchers is very important to ensure that the research conducted is relevant.

Crop Update

The first corn was planted in two planting date studies on April 9, a little later than the previous two years.  In 2005, the first planting was March 30, and April 5 in 2006.  The frozen or muddy soils were limiting factors this year.  We were fortunate to get the first planting before this last rain and snow.

The oat variety trial was planted on April 9 as well.  Normally our oats are planted two to three weeks earlier, but soil conditions prohibited any earlier field work.

Wheat was looking good coming out of dormancy, however, the recent lows in the upper teens and low 20's has damage a lot of the leaf tissue.  Fortunately, this wheat had not begun to joint, which would have significantly lowered its ability to withstand these low temperatures.  It will probably take several warm days to know for sure, but this wheat in the tillering stage should recover.  A publication from Kansas State titled “Spring Freeze Injury to Kansas Wheat” has good descriptions and pictures of wheat freeze damage on wheat.

NWRC 2007 Research Projects

Title	Investigator	Duration	Funding
Variety Trials
Commercial Corn Hybrid Trial	R. Esgar, D. Joos, B. Henry	annual	entry fees
Corn Hybrid Trial following Corn	R. Esgar, D. Joos, B. Henry	annual	entry fees
Conventional Soybean Variety Trial	R. Esgar, D. Joos, B. Henry	annual	entry fees
Roundup Ready Soybean Variety Trial	R. Esgar, D. Joos, B. Henry	annual	entry fees
SDS Screening of Soybean Varieties	C. Bradley, K. Ames	2003-2007	ISPOB
Oat Variety Trial	F. Kolb, N. Smith, E. Adee	annual	Hatch
Greenstem of Soybean Variety Selection	G. Hartman, C. Hill	2006-	ISPOB
White Mold Variety Trial	R. Bowen	2006-
Fertility
N Rates for Continuous and Rotated Corn	R. Hoeft, E. Nafziger, E. Adee	1981-indefinite	FREC
N Source and Timing for Cont. Corn	Fenandez/Greer/Adee/Johnson	2007-
Fall and Spring Applied N rates on Wheat	Adee, Paul, Johnson, Ebelhar	2003-2007
Timing of Nitrapyrin Incorporation in Corn	Fernandez/Adee/Johnson	2007	DOW
N Rates at Different Populations of Corn	Nafziger, Adee, Johnson	2005-
Corn Residue Removal, Tillage and N Rate	J. Coulter, Nafziger, Adee, Johnson	2006-
Corn Grain Quality with N Rate, Population & Hybrid	F. Below, M. Ruffo,	2006-2007	FREC
N-rate and N-Pact StripTrial for Corn	Nafziger/Adee/Johnson	2007	FREC
In-Furrow Treatments on Corn and Sb	Nafziger/Adee/Johnson	2007	Stoller
Foliar Feeding of Soybeans	Adee/Johnson	2006-2007
Cultural Practices
Corn-Corn-Soybean Rotation	E. Nafziger, Adee, Johnson	2002-	Pioneer
Fertility, Tillage and Population for Continuous Corn	E. Nafziger, Adee, Johnson	2005-	FREC
Crop Rotation Study with Corn, Soybean and Wheat	E. Nafziger, Adee, Johnson	1996-indefinite	Hatch
Tillage Rotation	M. Wander	1997-2007
Effect of Tillage Depth on Corn	Adee, Johnson	2004-	Hatch
Corn Planting Date and Population	E. Nafziger,  Adee, Johnson	2005-
Corn Planting Date for Corn after Corn	Nafziger/Adee/Johnson	2007
Yield Accumulation of Corn	E. Nafziger,  Adee, Johnson	2005-
Soybean Planting Rate in 15" No-till	Adee/Johnson	2006-2007
Muscatune Soil & Tillage on Crop Productivity	K. Olson/Adee/Johnson	2007-
Pest Management
Corn Rootworm Insecticides Comparison	K. Steffey, M. Gray, R. Estes	1983-indefinite
RwBt vs. Insecticide Demonstration	Adee/Johnson	2006-2007
Monitoring WCR Variant in Soybeans	Adee/Johnson	2005-
Insecticide + RwBt: Double Protection	Adee/Nafziger	2007
Headline on Corn	Adee/Johnson	2005-2007
Fungicides on Corn Hybrids	C. Bradley/K. Ames	2007
Soybean Aphid Movement	D. Voegtlin	2001-2007	C-Far
Effect of Annual Ryegrass on SCN	Morrison/Niblack/Adee	2006-2007
Soybean Cyst Nematode and Planting Treatments	T. Niblack,	2005-2007	Syngentia
Wheat Fungicide Study on Scab	Adee, L, Paul, S. Ebelhar	2003-	USWBSI
Fungicides/Insecticides on Soybeans	C. Bradley, K. Ames	2005-	ISPOB
Sentinel Plots for Soybean Rust	E. Adee, M. Johnson	2005-
Spore Trap for Soybean Rust	Adee, Johnson	2005-
Stewarts Wilt Evaluation on Sweet Corn Varieties	J. Pataky	2007
RR & Greenstem on Soybean	R. Bowen, D. Maxwell	2006-2007

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Investigator	Phone	E-mail		Investigator	Phone	E-mail
Eric Adee	309-734-7459	adee@uiuc.edu		Fred Kolb	217-244-6148	f-kolb@uiuc.edu
Keith Ames	217-351-5723	kaames@uiuc.edu		Doug Maxwell	217-333-4424	dmaxwell@uiuc.edu
Carl Bradley	217-244-7415	carlbrad@uiuc.edu		Jim Morrison	815-397-7714	morrison@uiuc.edu
Roger Bowen	217-333-3916	crbowen@uiuc.edu		Emerson Nafziger	217-333-4424	ednaf@uiuc.edu
Robert Dunker	217-244-5444	r-dunker@uiuc.edu		Terry Niblack	217-244-5940	tniblack@uiuc.edu
Steve Ebelhar	618-695-2790	sebelhar@uiuc.edu		Ken Olson	217-333-9639	krolson@uiuc.edu
Ralph Esgar	217-333-1194	r-esgar@uiuc.edu		Jerald Pataky	217-333-6606	j-pataky@uiuc.edu
Ron Estes	217-333-6652	restes@uiuc.edu		Lyle Paul	815-824-2029	lylepaul@uiuc.edu
Fabian Fernandez	217-333-4426	fernande@uiuc.edu		Loretta Ortez-Ribbing	309-836-3366	lylepaul@uiuc.edu
Mike Gray	217-333-6652	m-gray4@uiuc.edu		Martha Smith	309-836-2363	smithma@uiuc.edu
Robert Hoeft	217-333-4424	rhoeft@uiuc.edu		Kevin Steffey	217-333-6652	steffey@uiuc.edu
Glen Hartman	217-244-3258	ghartman@uiuc.edu		Dave Voegtlin	217-244-2152	dvoegtli@uiuc.edu
Brian Henry	217-333-1194	bhenry1@uiuc.edu		Michelle Wander	217-333-9471	mwander@uiuc.edu
Darin Joos	217-333-1194	joos@uiuc.edu

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