Looking Forward To Warm Weather

Arctic Temperatures Dip But Crop Prices Spike
Trent Brandenburg was working on his combine this morning in his heated (he emphasized) machine shed. His farming operation is in the middle of the typical central Illinois “zero stretch” of frigid February weather. Trent wants rain because the soil is very dry. “Now, not the day after planting,” he added. Trent is very happy with the recent spike in corn and soybean prices and is hauling grain from his on-farm storage to the elevator.
Trent bought some additional farm ground a year or so ago, and is happy with his purchase. He sees the farmland market as “pretty firm” despite recent low market prices. “It should get better with [market] prices going up.” Trent does not plan any changes to his corn-soybean rotations this year. Trent, like many farmers, is looking forward to spring tillage and planting for the new crop year.
Photo by Bruce Nessett
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 [...]


