We Need A Rain!!
Trent Brandenburg notes some corn damage already from the extended dry period. According to the National Weather Service in Lincoln, “Much of central Illinois (except for Springfield) is running 7-17 inches behind 2011 precipitation totals for the first half of the year, with Paris and Lawrenceville nearly 20 inches below last year”
Trent estimates that less than 5% of his corn plantings have tasseled, but 30% will be tasseled by the end of next week. As the tassels emerge and the critical pollination period begins, continued dry weather will pose an increasingly serious threat to this year’s corn yield.
His soybeans have emerged well but are not growing much because of the dry weather. Trent has completed his corn side dressing and, fortunately, got eight-tenths of an inch of rain just after, so the nitrogen is in the root zone thanks to the rain. Weed spraying in the soybean fields was completed last week. “The weeds aren’t growing, either,” Trent observed.
More from The Field Report
Dry Weather Speeds Harvest
Trent Brandenburg is trying to get his field work done "before it rains". Much of the area Trent farms is in "extreme drought" according to the Illinois Drought Monitor https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?IL map, which is updated every Thursday. The very dry soil [...]
In a Drought, but Corn is Too Wet to Harvest
The current Illinois drought map (11 September) shows severe drought in the northern 40% of Piatt County and moderate drought in the rest of Piatt and adjacent areas of neighboring counties. Trent Brandenburg has barely started harvesting because his corn [...]
Summertime Mowing And Spraying
Trent Brandenburg has been busy mowing his lawn and his roadsides due to the sunshine and frequent rains making his grass grow as well as his corn and soybeans. He has been hiring aerial spraying of fungicides to suppress disease [...]