It Was A Good Year

Published On: December 5, 2022

Trent Brandenburg has completed his harvest. His 2022 corn and soybean crops are “in the bin”. Asked how he would rate the crop year, Trent thought a bit and said, “It was a good year.” Trent has concerns during the long drought in May and early June, but the rains came in time to give him a crop to sell. The harvest weather was better than usual. Fall rains are filling in the subsoil dryness that has persisted so long in east central Illinois. The quality soils in his fields and improved genetics in his seed purchases have helped him overcome the challenge of a dry May and June.

Trent plans no major changes for next year. The price increases for diesel fuel and seed and crop protection inputs have squeezed his bottom line, he admits, but the recent strong grain markets have ameliorated the squeeze. The Brandenburgs wish you all a Merry Christmas!!

More from The Field Report

Dry Weather Speeds Harvest

October 28, 2025|

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

September 18, 2025|

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 [...]

  • Crop Protection of soybeans with drone spraying

Summertime Mowing And Spraying

August 6, 2025|

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 [...]