The rains of last week were certainly welcome. Someone mentioned to me that it was a "million dollar" rain. I had to agree. But then added that this was (hopefully) the first of many "million dollar rains". As short of sub soil moisture that we are, we'll need to keep these rains up all summer long for us to produce a crop.

I would doubt there are more than a handful of corn fields in the area left to plant. But there will be plenty of fields to respray to control the escaped grass and broadleaf weeds that emerged due to lack of rainfall to incorporate/activate the herbicide.

Soybean planting for some folks hasn't yet begun and for others they've gotten a good start. The lack of moisture and cool forecast the end of April kept some from pushing too hard. Many fields that were worked simply didn't have enough moisture for the soybean seed to germinate. The rains of last week will certainly solve that problem.

Alfalfa is beginning to feel the effects of alfalfa weevil and pea aphid pressure. Some fields have already been treated, others bear watching, and still others don't seem to be much affected. Some fields are at or just a little past optimum for dairy quality. For those fields where harvest is eminent, taking the harvest will usually control the weevil (and aphid as well). Be sure to check regrowth as sometimes weevils can be found feeding on regrowth as it emerges from the stem.

Wheat is soon to be headed. As of yet, only a scattering of diseases to report. And so far, none have been at levels to be concerned about. Remember that we now have a fungicide labeled for control of head scab. Rain showers at heading may signal that we need to be watching for this disease.