Recent weeks have been cool and damp, perfect weather for fostering disease. Much to my disappointment, conversations with my agronomist last week verified that Iowa State Extension has already confirmed the presence of tar spot in central Iowa. It's important to note that tar spot overwinters in Iowa and these confirmed cases are isolated, but we were not expecting disease issues to show up on our radar quite this early in the growing season. Both corn and beans would benefit from additional heat in the forecast, and as an added benefit, the heat would slow disease progression. Otherwise, field work continues to move along at a slow but steady pace, with farmers squeezing into the fields in the small gaps that Mother Nature has been providing.