Weekly Weather and Crop Update

It seems so far this season every week when I would read the weekly weather and crop update from the Southern Research and Outreach Center at Waseca the temperatures were either much above normal or much below. For a change this past week temperatures were about normal! Temperatures this past week averaged 69 degrees, only 0.5 degrees below normal. Rainfall totaled 0.58 inches, which was 0.54 inches less than normal. Growing Degree Units totaled 132.5, which was only 1 percent more than normal. Since May 1 we have accumulated 763 Growing Degree Units, is 11 percent above normal.

A year ago this week was warm and very wet. Temperatures averaged 73.4 degrees and we received 3.44 inches of rain. It is great to see corn with the deep green color and it has reached the rapid growth phase. At Waseca the corn grew 12 inches in the past week. The early planted corn is now 36 inches tall and reached the V-9 stage or nine leaf collars. I have heard that a few soybean aphids have been found in southwest Minnesota, but not in our area yet. The past two years, very few soybean fields needed to be sprayed for soybean aphids. Maybe we will get lucky three years in a row?