Crops in Greene County are ahead of last year.

Landus Cooperative Field Agronomist Zach Minnihan says corn is two-times farther ahead of last year’s heat growing units, which measures how fast corn matures during the growing season.

“We’re up into the 2,300 to 2,400 (units) around there and last year at this time, we were only about 1,500 (units). So this crop as grown very rapidly. I mean we’re going to finish quite a bit earlier than I guess a normal year.”

The base of the corn stalks are turning yellow, which Minnihan says is when the plant starts to cannibalize itself to finish off it’s maturity cycle. He adds that soybeans have also grown quickly and have sprouted good pods.

One area of concern is controlling aphids. Minnihan points out that the insect can spread quickly if you don’t regularly monitor your crops.

“The thing about them is that they’re born pregnant. So their reproduction cycle is extremely fast and they can really take over a field in a matter of days, really rapidly.”

Minnihan suggests that if crop producers notice 150 to 200 aphids in their fields, to seriously consider spraying their crops so that the insect doesn’t invade their entire field.