Dry Weather Hastens Harvest
September in central Illinois was one-to-three-inches short of average rainfall. Trent Brandenburg took full advantage of the natural drydown and good field conditions to get his crops from the field to the bin. Trent has completed his soybean harvest. He estimated “about three days” to complete his corn harvest (from Friday, October 25, 2024). Trent described his yields as “good to average.” The “average” fields got a bad start from the wet May, both from delayed planting, and poor growing conditions after germination due to waterlogged soils. Careful crop management helped the plants thrive and produce adequate yields despite the poor start.
Southern Illinois got some heavy rains from the remnants of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The central and northern part of Illinois are
in moderate drought; severe drought in the northwest 4-5 counties. The soil moisture measurements in Champaign showed record high levels (wet) in May, then dropped to record low (dry) levels at the 8-inch depth in July and today.
More from The Field Report
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 [...]
Everything Looks Pretty Good, Says Trent
Trent Brandenburg has finished planting except for a few ponds. He is pleased with the germination so far. It is still too wet for side-dressing, but at least the Drought Monitor shows no dryness in Trent's farming area of Central [...]
Waiting For It To Dry Out
Trent Brandenburg got 1.5 inches of rainfall over Easter Weekend, so he is "waiting for it to dry out," to resume planting. He began planting last Tuesday, April 15. Trent estimated he has about a third of his corn and [...]