Fortunately this year there have not been the very hot conditions that normally would have shut down the plant development. Soybeans are generally blooming, however plant growth is less than normal. For example last year I was in chest high fields by July 1, while this year no fields are even close to waist high. Double crop soybeans following winter wheat have gone in as late as this week and as early as two weeks ago. Japanese beetles populations are building and in some cases are causing significant defoliation.
Sugar beets continue to generally look very good with spraying continuing for leaf spot.
Wheat yields have generally been very good with generally very low vomitoxin levels. Smut had some farmers washing their combines every other day. Miscellaneous Apple development is ahead of normal and katydids are out already, which have some farmers thinking that fall frost will be much earlier than normal. The best corn that I have seen in the Midwest over the past two weeks in the upper Midwest was irrigated corn in Nebraska and along I-80 in west central Iowa. For perhaps the first time this season since the rains began to fall we could really use some rain in the region.