Illinois Crop Conditions Improve for Corn, Soybeans

BY JEFF BROWN, FARMWEEKNOW.COM

Some say there’s an exception to every rule. However, this summer hasn’t provided enough moisture to make farmer David Schaal rethink his maxim that, “you don’t turn rain away in July.”

Not yet, at least.

The FarmWeek CropWatcher from Fayette County reported Monday morning that his farm received 5 ½ inches of rain in the past week, which caused some low-lying soybeans to start turning yellow. But all things considered, he’ll take it.

“Things really look good,” Schaal told the RFD Radio Network®. “Corn looks super. Like I said, there’s a lot of beans that look good, too."

“Not too long ago, on the corn side, we saw a good crop coming on,” added Schaal, who farms near St. Peter. “And then we started catching some rains, and it kind of topped the corn crop off. I think the corn crop’s going to be phenomenal.”

USDA’s June 21 crop progress report rated a third of all Illinois topsoil as short or very short. But consistent rainfall across most of the state over the past five weeks has improved the outlook as only 12% fell into those categories in Monday’s report.

The Ag Department rated 74% of the state’s corn and 76% of soybeans in the good or excellent categories. That’s an 11% improvement over last week for corn and a 9% jump for soybeans. Both represent huge improvements over the same time last year.

Nearly 90% of corn is silking, slightly ahead of the five-year average of 84%. And 22% of corn has reached the dough stage, compared with 28% for the historic average. For soybeans, 67% of the crop is blooming and 36% is setting pods, behind the five-year pace of 74% and 38%, respectively.

“Our bean crop isn’t made yet,” Schaal said. “Like I said, we got the moisture and got some good things going, but it’s hard to tell right now.”