June 4th, 2021
posted
by Andrew Blomme on 6/4/2021
in
Weekly Newsletter
June 4th, 2021
Weekly Weather Summary
Over the past 7 days we saw temperatures near freezing Saturday morning and temperatures over 90 today. Overall, the week was cooler with an accumulation of 62 GDU's. For reference, the previous week we accumulated nearly double that amount of GDU's. The map below shows the GDU accumulation totals for the state. 
This next map below shows the GDU accumulation for this year compared to average. The cooler week we just experienced brought the majority of the state to below average levels of GDU accumulation for the season.
Temperatures will be much higher over the next 7-10 days. With the current forecast we expect to accumulate 25-28 GDU's per day over the next 7 days. By next week's newsletter, we will likely have gained 180+ GDU's. Keep an eye out on the corn crop this week; it will be developing rapidly.
Frost Injury
Night time temperatures dipped down around freezing late last week. Early this week, I was able to find a fair bit of frost damage. Damage was commonly found in soybeans planted on bottom ground with heavy corn residue. While frost damage was not hard to find, it was rarely fatal. The picture below shows a prime example of a frost damaged soybean plant that is still viable.
At the time of the frost, this particular soybean had 5 different growing points. A growing point is an area of the plant that is capable of producing new plant tissue. The frost destroyed 3 of these growing points which are marked by the red arrows. Two of these growing points were located at the base of the unifoliate leaves and one growing point was at the very top of the plant. As you look lower on the plant you can see that the cotyledons are still green and unaffected by the frost. The last two growing points on this plant are located where the cotyledons attach to the stem, inside the green circle. These two growing points are still very viable and will be responsible for the growth of this soybean plant from here on out.
When scouting frost damage it is important to determine the viability of all the growing points of a soybean plant. It only takes one surviving growing point for a soybean plant to recover from frost damage.
The Week Ahead
The next 7 days will bring high temperatures and rapid crop development. We expect to receive 180+ GDU's this week. The corn crop will progress through two leaf stages over the next 7 days at that rate. Some corn plants will be knocking on the door to V6 by next weekend. At V6, a corn plant is undergoing a lot of changes to prepare for producing grain. Next week's newsletter will discuss these topics as well as other observations from the field.