The Field Report

January 31, 2024|

Need More Cold Weather, Warmer Markets

Trent Brandenburg wants more cold weather to freeze the soil deeper and kill more overwintering insects. “We are having too many 40-degree days,” he observed. Trent noted, “Not much grain is moving,” due to lower market pricing. “Eventually, the owner has to be the seller,” Trent said, meaning grain being held by growers will come on to the market eventually.

Except for a few days of bitter cold, January has been relatively warm and wet. Measurable rainfall most days will eventually move through the frost layer and recharge the subsoil. The Illinois subsoil moisture measurements at Champaign at the 4-inch, 12-inch, and 20-inch levels have all returned to their highs of last Spring’s rainy spell from the serious drought conditions of August and September 2023.

More from The Field Report

Recent Rains Helped Corn And Beans

September 3, 2019|

Trent visited the Farm Progress Show in Decatur this week, to keep up with new developments and enjoy the friendly greetings of the various ag sales people.

Corn Looks “Amazingly Well” For Bad Planting Conditions

July 9, 2019|

Trent Brandenburg said, "The corn looks amazingly well for the conditions it was planted in. He continued, "Beans are a different story. There aren't any nice-looking bean fields because of the spotty germination."

Latest Planting Year Ever Experienced

June 3, 2019|

Trent Brandenburg says 2019 is the latest planting year he ever experienced. At the end of May, he has planted NO soybeans and has about 140 acres of corn left to plant. His earliest-planted corn (April) is up 8 to 12 inches and looking good. The rest of his corn "is all over the place, from 3 to 4 inches tall on up." None of his seed was planted in ideal conditions, "but the calendar says you have to," Trent added wryly.

  • Wet-Corn-Field-Midwest-copyright-Virginia Dahms

“I’ll Take It Not Getting Wetter”

May 2, 2019|

At the end of April, 2019, Trent Brandenburg has only 100 acres of corn planted. He is usually nearly done with planting at this time of year. "It'd be different if I was the only farmer in Illinois who didn't have a crop in," Trent observed. "I've planted corn in May before and it did fine."

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