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"A goal properly set is halfway reached." -Zig Ziglar Time: 4-6 pm Temperatures: mid 80s Conditions: Scattered Clouds at 3,000 feet Winds: SW at 7 mph Humidity: High WOW! Hard to believe the last time I stage this plot was back in May. Corn vegetative stage is around V11 with 3-4 leaves to go till tassel. 5699V2P had an ear tucked in the leaf big enough to count rows under a 30x lense. It had 16 rows around. 6589V2P on the other hand was too small, even under 30x magnification. It is interesting how this range of maturity makes a difference on the advancement of its ear. I can't wait for pollination to start checking length and yield potential. It has been wet in June so far, but a little drier than the conditions were in May. Did not note any insect pressure and disease was low or non existent. I did note on a few leaves some Physoderma and a few pustules of common rust on one plant. A VT-R1 application of fungicide may likely be needed this year across the northern Vernon/southern Bates county areas. There will be an article out soon advising scouting and treatment of disease. Below are a few pictures from the plot:

Here are emergence scores of the soybean plot. Enlist emergence is significantly different. This plot has had a lot of rain and has a clay loam soil type that hangs onto water. Weather Conditions: Time: 4-5:00 pm Temperature: mid 80s Sky: Clear Winds: S, Humidity: High Uniformity Score 1 best 5 worst 4310E3: 2 4442FP: 2 4447X2: 4 4628FP: 3 4667X2: 3 4610E3: 1.5 4772FP: 2.5 4887X2: 1.5 4810E3: 1.5 4991X2: 2.5 5119X2: 2 5110E3: 2 5337X2: 2

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are” -Thomas Jefferson Here is the status of the short season corn plot near Rich Hill, MO. This plot like everything else has been inundated with heavy rain. The corn was around V6-V7 with nodes stacked tightly due to cool weather. Temperature the day this evaluation took place was in the upper 70s. Skies had scattered clouds, soil moisture was ample, but not saturated. The corn had been recently top dressed with treated Urea several weeks before. Color Ratings 1-5 (1= yellow, 5 = dark green) 5140HR: 4 5313AM: 3 5113AM: 3 5077V2P: 2.5 4971AM: 4 4636V2P: 3 4323VZ: 3 4292V2P: 3 Uniformity Ratings 1-5 (1 = yellow, 5 = dark green) 5140HR: 3 5313AM: 2.5 5113AM: 2.5 5077V2P: 4 4971AM: 3 4636V2P: 4 4323VZ: 2 4292V2P: 3

"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose." -Zora Neale Hurston Here is a look at the mid to long season plot in the Rich Hill, MO area. It is currently at the V5-V6 stage. After weeks of wet weather and air deprived soils, the corn is just hitting the Nitrogen as it's roots start growing. Beck's Hybrids places much emphasis on clear research. At TOP Ag Services, we want to continue and extend this information and carefully replicated data to you. We feel it is important for you to see the products in these plots to be able to make the best decisions for product placement on your farm. This year you can check back to this Test Plot reporting to see updates. Also, feel free to call me and setup a time to go and walk this plot. Or, ask directions and stop by it at your leisure. And, at the very least you can always visit https://www.topagservices.com/test-plot-updates from your phone or computer to see the latest updates on these products throughout the year on our Early Corn Early and the mid/long season plot. Scroll to the bottom of the page to access the plot maps and layout brought to you courtesy of Beck's Hybrid's FARMserver data management software. Headlines on this walk would put 6282AM leading on growth (it was the first out of the ground), the new experimental 2902 standing out in the 115+ lineup as a leader on growth and good color, and 6948BR has been the slowest, but makes up for it in consistent color. Here are color ratings on a scale 1-5 1= yellow, 5= dark green) evaluated by Wendell Koehn: 5699V2P: 2 5866AM: 4 6082AM: 3 6049V2P: 2 6112V2P: 3 6274V2P: 2.5 6282AM: 3 6368V2P: 2 6414V2P: 3 6948BR: 3 6589V2P: 2 6622AM: 3 EX2902: 3 6774V2P: 2

This will be brief and to the point: High humidity from the rain and chances of rain after this week has and will put wheat at high risk for Head Scab or Fusarium Head Blight. Fungicide can be critical in controlling this disease. As a soil borne pathogen that spreads it's spores to the wheat from wet soils below and humidity above is a good environment for this disease. I am including pictures that the Fusarium Head Blight Prediction Center has issued. The first (left) picture is an assessment made on May 8, 2019. The second picture is today: May 13, 2019. This has the risk for allowing mycotoxins to enter the grain, like vomotoxin. Translating to a potential reject at the buyer if levels are too high. I don't want to make this sound worse than it is, but it is important to know that the risk is high this year for this problem. It is recommended to spray fungicide. Onward and Upward!

Due to the rain, you may not have been able to apply the insecticide/fungicide at Feekes 9. The good thing on this is the aphids were not at critical levels and nor disease pressure at Feekes 8 on the fields we inspected. Now, let's look at it like we always do when weather does not cooperate. We update the plan and start where we stand now. If aphids are still not critical (MU says 12-15/linear foot of row) and disease is not present it is recommended to wait till beginning flower (10.5.1) in which we have a relatively short window of 5 days from that point to apply for head scab. The effects of head scab can be devastating and a correctly timed app is profound in its Return On Investment (ROI). This is especially true in years of high humidity, like 2015. At that point, apply insecticide to control the aphids as well. The cues for beginning flower are anthers at the middle of the head. On some fields, we estimate the timeframe to be 7-10 days. Your fields will need to be scouted for a better estimate. Heads in full flower signal the end of this critical period. I will include a tip from Kaleb Hellwig (BASF agronomist for our area): look at the first row of plants on the south side of the field to determine what the rest of the field will be at in a couple days. Also, we don't know what the weather will be like exactly. Heat units play a part here as well. However, your spray team should be scheduled soon to be ready for the time you estimate it to be. Calling them the day before is not a good option with all the work commercial applicators have lined out, and the short window that the work will have to be done in to apply. You can always postpone, if the wheat does not advance as fast as previously thought. I gave some thoughts on working through long term plans with adverse weather on another article that can be found here As always, if you need anything, feel free to reach out anytime 417-684-5301 or wendell@topagservices.com A Thank You to Contributors for this report: Alex Long Beck's Hybrids Agronomist for Missouri Kaleb Hellwig BASF agronomist for Missouri

Uniformity Ratings on A Team plot by Wendell Koehn. Day after 4" of rain and 73 degrees. Slightly more water ponding 112 day and up. Uniformity Score 1 best 5 worst 5699V2P 3 5866AM 2 6082AM 1.5 6049V2P 3 6112V2P 2.5 6274V2P 2.5 6282AM 1.5 6368V2P 3 6414V2P 2.5 6948BR 4.5 6589V2P 3.5 6622AM 2 EX2902 3 6774V2P 3.5

Here are the pictures for the emergence of the early corn early look near Rich Hill, MO. See first blog post for details of this plot here: https://www.topagservices.com/post/corn-plot-trials-layout Anyway, 4636V2P wins this round of first out of the ground. New product 5077V2P seems in line with emergence we see in the 13 family like 5113AM & 5313AM. 4323VZ was the slowest although a perfect stand. Click through the slider below:

This post outlines the two corn plots planted in the Rich Hill area. An ECE (Early Corn Early) plot located approximately 5 miles W of Rich Hill and 2 miles south. The hybrids are planted East to West and are numbered shortest to longest South to North as follows: 4292V2P, 4323VZ, 4636V2P, 4971AM, 5077V2P, 5113AM, 5313AM, 5140HR . The range of RM is 92 to 105 day. A full season plot located approximately 3 mile South of TT highway and 1 mile W of I-49 in Vernon County. The hybrids are planted North to South and are numbered shortest to longest East to West as follows: 5699V2P, 5866AM, 6082AM, 6049V2P, 6112V2P, 6274V2P, 6282AM, 6368V2P, 6414V2P, 6948BR, 6589V2P, 662AM, EX2902AM, 6774V2P Below is the map from FARMserver. Call me at 417-684-5301 to setup a plot walk this spring, summer, or fall.

Wheat Stage: Feekes 8, the flag leaf, the last leaf is out on most fields checked in our area. Even wheat planted late has largely narrowed the gap in maturity. The next stage Feekes 9 will be when the flag leaf is completely emerged. This is defined when the ligule at the leaf collar is visible. Keep this in mind through this report. The persons on these fields were Wendell Koehn & Alex Long, our Beck's agronomist for Missouri. Insects Some aphids are being found. Although, the thresholds are barely being met; I believe an insecticide application will be necessary as the cost to risk ratio of this management practice is heavily weighted in favor of profitablility. Disease No rust or powdery mildew was found in the several fields we walked in. However; with the rain forecasted causing an increase in humidity will increase the likelihood of disease pressure. Especially, keep a lookout for striped rust. Depending on the your goals from here on, consider a good strobi fungicide at Feekes 9 (see above for staging) like Quilt, Delaro, Twinline, or Stratego YLD. Note: at this point it would be a good time to spray the insecticide in this fungicide application to cover the aphids, too. As you know the aphids will vector the Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus, which will be present later on. Looking ahead to flower: When the half of the field is at 10.5.1 will be a time when the plant is at risk for head scab. This is probably the most critical application in wheat management from this time forward. In years of high humidity with little drying taking place this disease can wipe an astronomical amount of yield and reduce grain quality severely. I am including below pictures of the difference between dry fertilizer vs streaming liquid N onto wheat. The top is the dry spread and the bottom is the liquid. Note that if Nitrogen is not at critical levels in the fall, this may not be so noticeable. Wheat fields are like High Definition screens with many pixels per square foot. It is possible that the spinner was not calibrated properly. Certainly, a wheat field will be the crop that reveals this error with HD quality. Streaming liquid nitrogen on can be a more even application for this crop. As always, if you need anything, please feel free to reach out to 417-684-5301 or wendell@topagservices.com

Rain pushes off to the east, cold relaxes this weekend. See image below for updated coverage map courtesy of BAMWX LLC. Please do NOT share this image on social media, it is not public release yet! Call me for more details if needed! 417-684-5301

The forecast has changed significantly from Monday. Be preparing for the impacts of rain and cold nights on newly planted corn seed. By next Wednesday 2-4" will have fallen in areas of Bates and Vernon counties. The rain Saturday night will be especially cold, given the atmospheric conditions; possibly in the 30s. Keep a close eye on forecast Friday night for the Saturday night weather event.