Warmer temperatures into the week of May 20 could change topsoil moisture from adequate to dry, according to Rory Lewandowski, Ohio State University extension educator in Wayne County. Across the state, farmers are taking advantage of the warmer, drier weather to plant corn and soybeans or harvest hay.  To date, 85-90 percent of the corn is in the ground.  Last year that number was in the single digits.

“We may have some organic growers who are still waiting to get their corn in the ground and some silage corn to go in yet,” he said.

Black cutworms and flea beetles are also emerging and scouts have seen some damage from black cutworms even in sweet corn. “A lot of sweet corn varieties don’t have resistance to black cutworm, so producers may have to do some treatment,” Lewandowski said.

“About one-third of the soybean crop is planted and about a third is starting to emerge,” he added.

For forage growers, the odds are better, with about 75 percent of first cutting alfalfa crop harvested and grass hay running about 80 percent. Winter wheat and oats look good, with no real problems, thanks to warm, dry weather.

“We aren’t seeing a lot of problems with vegetables,” he said.  “The apple and peach crops look good, but we may see some reduction because of the recent cold events.  We are starting to see some strawberries on the market.”

He added that growers are monitoring for codling moths and may be doing some treatment because of the populations they have seen in the traps. There have also been some problems with flea beetles in potatoes and cold crops.

“Some of these crops are ahead in their development, so we are seeing some things earlier,” he said.

Michigan farmers are making good planting progress. While scattered rain dampened conditions and slowed planting for some growers last week, field conditions in other areas have been nearly ideal for planting.

Paul Gross, Michigan State University extension educator in Isabella County, said he expected many farmers in the central Michigan area would finish planting corn over the weekend. “We’ve made good progress,” he said. “By the weekend we’re going to be 90 to 95 percent planted in corn. Soybeans will probably be around 60 to 65 percent done.”

With a variety of lighter soils in his area, he said some farmers are getting a little worried about moisture levels.

“It’s getting pretty dry on top, but the weather has been pretty favorable for field crops all spring,” he said. “For the guys who put in early corn, it’s all up now and a lot of it is at the two- to three-leaf stage. We have a couple of weeks of warm weather predicted, which will be good for it.”

Gross said now farmers are relying on Mother Nature. “We always rely on whether it’s going rain,” he said. “One of the key things to high yields is early planting. Our potential right now is that we could have a good growing season with good yields.”

 According to the agricultural summary from the Michigan field office of NASS for the week ending May 13, about 60 percent of the state’s corn crop was planted, up from 32 percent this time last year. Of that 23 percent had emerged, significantly higher than the 2 percent reported last year.

Soybean planting continued, with farmers reporting 32 percent of the crop in the ground, compared to 12 percent last year. In other crops, wheat is reported in good condition and beginning to head in southern Michigan, and sugar beet stands are in good shape.

With dry and warmer weather, Iowa farmers worked at a rapid pace and the state saw widespread corn and soybean planting the week of May 7-13.

“The warm, dry weather last week allowed fields to dry out and farmers took advantage. Many have now completed corn planting and are moving on to soybeans,” said Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey. “The weather looks agreeable again this week and I would expect many to finish planting in the next week to 10 days.”

State Meteorologist Harry Hillaker said dry air and mostly clear skies allowed wide temperature swings, with morning lows down to 34 degrees in Elkader on Thursday morning, to an afternoon high of 87 degrees in Sioux City.

The May 14 Iowa Crop & Weather report said corn planting now stands at 90 percent complete, with west-central Iowa producers 96 percent finished. Moreover, 55 percent of the corn has emerged, six days ahead of normal.

The report also said soybean planting was 39 percent complete, emerging in each district of the state. The report added that 95 percent of the oats had emerged, with 7 percent headed – 19 days ahead of normal.

In his May 14 crop report for the coming week, Virgil Schmitt, Iowa State University extension field agronomist, said cutworms along Interstate 80 (where cutting has already started) are a sporadic problem and not likely to be an issue in most fields, “but fields should be scouted until they reach the V5 growth stage so they can be treated, if needed.”