First Round Of Planting Done, Ponds Need Replanting
Trent Brandenburg is done with his “first round” of planting, as he puts it. The corn and soybeans he planted in April are up and growing in excellent condition. Trent’s later-planted crops are germinating but not as far along as his April plantings. The frequent heavy rains during May have caused ponding in some of his fields. Trent estimates that he will have to replant about ten per cent of his acreage. He will have to wait for the ponding to dry out before he can get back into his fields to replant the ponded areas.
Trent’s area received over an inch of rain Tuesday June 4, 2024. With rain now predicted every day or two, the soil drydown will take a while. In the 30-day period ending this morning (5 June 2024) Trent’s area had received 150 per cent of normal precipitation. This 30 days followed a wet spring, so there is plenty of soil moisture right now.
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 [...]