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Dry conditions in northern and central parts of Illinois allowed for a relatively early start to planting this year; the first NASS report of planting was soybeans at 1% on April 6. Soybean planting stayed ahead of corn planting through April, with 22% of soybeans and 16% of corn planted by April 27. By May 4, planting progress was nearly even—33% for soybeans and 32% for corn.…

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The first half of April has been a little cooler than normal, with a very wide range in rainfall totals, from an inch or more below normal in northwestern Illinois to 6-8 inches above normal in south-southeastern Illinois. There is some rain in the forecast over the next week, but some progress in fieldwork and planting is likely. While it’s too early to consider planting in wet soil,…

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The month of March in Illinois was 4-5 degrees warmer and 1-2 inches lower in precipitation than normal. At Champaign, 170 growing degree days (GDD) accumulated in March, and less than 2 inches of rain fell from March 10 through the end of the month. The dry weather had fields in some places dry enough to work and plant around the middle of March,…

If we were to look at the records of planting date and weather from 2024 without knowing the yields, we might not guess that corn yield beat and soybean tied previous yield records for Illinois. Here, we’ll take a quick look at the 2024 growing season, and consider whether we might apply lessons from it as we manage crops in 2025.
Growing season weather and crop conditions
Illinois weather was on its usual rollercoaster in 2024: February was dry,…

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With warm weather prevailing through most of September and dry conditions through mid-October, corn and soybean harvest in Illinois has progressed well, with 49% of the corn crop and 62% of the soybean crop harvested by October 13, compared to 5-year averages of 44% for corn and 47% for soybeans. September rainfall was 1 to 3 inches below normal, and hardly any rain has fallen so far in October;…

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April temperatures were warmer than normal in Illinois, making the January-April period one of the warmest on record. April was also wetter than normal, and as rains have continued into May, questions about nitrogen (N) losses continue to increase. This concern is greater for fall-applied N, but warm soil temperatures and wet soils have some people talking about the possible need for more N to replace what might have been lost so far.…

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While statewide precipitation in March averaged 3.21 inches (89% of normal), we saw a clear north-south gradient within Illinois, with totals ranging from half to an inch above normal in the northern part of Illinois to as much as up to two inches below normal in the southern end of the state. April began with above-average precipitation across the state, with 7-day totals averaging almost 2 inches,…

Rainfall in the first two weeks of August recharged soil moisture across much of Illinois, but since then, the combination of low rain amounts and very high temperatures (4.7 to 8.9 degrees above average) brought on some stress during the last week of August. The August 29 U.S. drought monitor map from last week showed about 43% of the state with no stress, 42% abnormally dry, and 15% with moderate drought. Parts of central and southern Illinois received between 0.5 to 1.5 inches of rain this week,…

Rainfall in late June and early July brought relief from very dry conditions, but soils dried out again before August 5-9 rains over most of Illinois recharged soil moisture enough to restore crop prospects for the 2023 season. The August 15 U.S. drought monitor map showed 28% of Illinois to have no drought, 57% to be abnormally dry, and 14% to be in moderate drought. At this point in the season, there’s little concern about abnormal dryness,…