Wheat Condition:

The wheat (where it hasn't hailed) is still hanging in there.  Harvest will likely start in a little over a week in the Liberal area and is still over 2 weeks out in the Garden City area.  In some cases it is dying instead of maturing due to ongoning dry conditions in many areas.  The foliar leaf diseases have never really materialized and at this point, there isn't time for them to.  Aphids (Greenbugs and Cherry Aphids) have been eliminated by predators now.  It still looks like there will be pockets of good wheat.  In the Garden City area the best yields will be north and east of town with much more spotty conditions south and west. 

Corn Conditions:

Corn plant stands are finally in place.  In many cases the first planted corn took over a month to fully emerge.  With warmer weather, fields that were planted 3 weeks later really aren't that far behind in maturity.  The biggest problem has been the wind.  Fields that don't normally blow have blown in 2008.  Some have blown several times and are still vulnerable today.  If a field blows and damages corn once the corn can recover and produce normal yields.  If it recovers and blows a second time, there may be some loss in plant vigor and yield.  After three times it is likely the corn will never fully recover it's potential.  It definitely does not have nine lives.  

Spider Mites are becoming established on the edges of many fields.  Nothing is to treatable levels and it would be unusual to actually have to spray this early for this pest.  In some ways an early infestation of Spider Mites may actually be a positive thing.  Past experience has shown that the fields that develop serious Spider Mite problems later in the season are the ones where Mites themselves became established much later and due to lack of predators had numbers build to damaging levels rapidly.  Where fields have Spider Mites established now the weather is less conducive to rapid builds and it should give predators more of a chance to become established as well before the real heat of summer hits in late July and early August.

Corn Rootworm hatch should be started in the Liberal area within 7 days and likely under two weeks out in the Garden City area.  We have still seen no evidence of either root feeding or the larva.  Development of this insect is driven by growing degree units and we are well behind normal years and so I would expect the rootworm hatch will be delayed by about a week as well.  In a normal year the hatch would start during the last week in May in Liberal and the first week in June in Garden City.