A Warm and Wet Winter
Trent Brandenburg is getting ready to do some pre-season spraying. He is maintaining his machinery. Except for a burst of zero weather a week or so ago, the winter in central Illinois has been warm and wet.
The soil moisture gain is mostly from rain, although there was one multi-inch snow, the first one in a few years. The Illinois drought monitor shows no water shortage in the southern two-thirds of the state.
Trent does not plan much change in his crop rotations or fertilizer and crop protection inputs. He is happy with his current results and not inclined to experiment with success. He has already booked his inputs for the new crop year.
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 [...]