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 may hamper fall tillage, but right now Trent wants to get ahead of the rain predicted for the coming weekend. The drought has affected soybean yields. With the unusual warmth delaying a killing frost, in a normal year more soybean pod fill would still occur this late in the season, but the severe drought this year stopped that.
The harvest has gone fast, because there have been no rain delays. There also have been no delays at the elevators waiting for drying time. The yields overall have been above last year, due to excellent growing conditions earlier in the season. A lot of fall rain and winter snow will be needed to replenish the soil moisture.
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 [...]