The actual walk through the wheat field still shows a fair amount of bluegrass. Due to the recent rain and cool cloudy weather the flag leaf and below the flag leaf are showing early signs of disease, powdery mildew, and insect problems from the cereal leaf beetle. The wheat field needs some sunny, hot, dry weather soon, or the problem will worsen. Current wheat harvest date is July 4.
The soil temperature was taken in the sweet corn field and found to be only 58 degrees. The cool weather is about a month behind what it should be, and hence, the crops are smaller too. Several estimates were taken in the sweet corn field to determine the yield per acre. One 17.5-foot row contained 24 plants, while another 17.5-foot row contained 16 plants. Since 17.5 feet is estimated to be 1/1000 of an acre, one can estimate 24,000 and 16,000 plants per acre. The difference in count could be due to different cultivars being counted and estimated.
The field corn is at stage 3. The field corn plants are showing much slug damage since it was planted in a no-till field having soybean residue to harbor the slugs throughout the winter and wet spring. There was some cereal leaf beetle damage as well.
Walking through the alfalfa field a few alfalfa weevils were noticed. The alfalfa grass is fed to the sheep, but is too rich a diet for feeding horses. Orchard grass is also present within the alfalfa field.
Among the weeds noticed were cheat grass, orchard grass, Italian rye, ragweed and curly doc.
- From Trap 1 (Black CutWorm) – Only 1 black cut worm was found.
- From Trap 2 (Fall ArmyWorm) – Only 1 bee, and 2 Army Worm moths fond.
- From Trap 3 (European Corn Borer) – Only 1 ladybug found.
In the demonstration plots, some of the new pepper plants were eaten by either deer, groundhog or rabbit. The strawberry plot looks good, having a few berries ripen. The hop plants are showing some damage from either thrips or leafhoppers.
