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 may hamper fall tillage, but right now Trent wants to get ahead of the rain predicted for the coming weekend. The drought has affected soybean yields. With the unusual warmth delaying a killing frost, in a normal year more soybean pod fill would still occur this late in the season, but the severe drought this year stopped that.
The harvest has gone fast, because there have been no rain delays. There also have been no delays at the elevators waiting for drying time. The yields overall have been above last year, due to excellent growing conditions earlier in the season. A lot of fall rain and winter snow will be needed to replenish the soil moisture.
More from The Field Report
From Drought To Ponding And Replanting
In barely months, Trent's challenges have gone from extreme drought to repeated ponding and replanting. Trent has replanted some corn and soybeans twice, only to have the ponding return yet again. "I don't think I will try to replant corn [...]
Corn And Soybean Planting Done, Some Germinated, More To Come
Trent Brandenburg is happy to have completed his corn and soybean planting by the 15th of May. "It's slow," he said, commenting on the germination delay by the recent cool temperatures. Moderately heavy rains the last few days have caused [...]
Worked Some Fields, With A Sunny Day Could Begin Planting
Trent Brandenburg has "worked a couple of fields, they're barely ready" after several days of rain last week. "If we get a sunny day tomorrow I could plant some," Trent continued. The long-standing extreme drought in central Illinois has been [...]