The Field Report

December 30, 2025|

Wild And Windy Winter Weekend

Trent Brandenburg and family endured a near miss yesterday as a tornado touched down a few miles from their home place. Tornadoes are a rare occurrence in December, but a “bomb cyclone” ripped through central Illinois yesterday. Houses were unroofed in Long Creek, a village a few miles southwest of Trent’s. The temperature plunged from a record-high 69 at 2 p.m. yesterday (28 December 2025) to 12 above this morning, with 45 m.p.h. wind gusts providing a “feels like” 18 below.

Trent is happy to have been spared the wind damage, but like most central Illinois farm operators, he is not happy about corn and soybean market prices. He hopes Santa got his letter, but being the pragmatic farmer he is, Trent is being careful about planning his inputs for next year. The Brandenburg family wishes you and yours a happy and prosperous New Year. If you are a landowner wanting to be more prosperous, make a New Year’s resolution to talk with Trent.

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Everything Looks Pretty Good, Says Trent

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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 Illinois. The cool weather of [...]

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