debugging field crop production

  by Trent Ford, State Climatologist ISWS PRI University of Illinois The first full week of August is in the books. The last month of summer has started a bit cooler and wetter. Average temperatures this week ranged from the low 70s in northern Illinois to mid-70s in southern Illinois, between 1 and 4 degrees below normal. High humidity limited how far nighttime temperatures could drop, but it also kept daytime temperature moderate. A few places had daytime highs in the 60s last week,…

Steve Brand – Commercial Ag Specialist DeKalb County Soil Conditions: Mildly Wet (soil is wetter than normal, local vegetation is healthy) Quick synopsis of conditions that will appear in the main feed After yet another heat wave, we finally received some reprieve with some consistent rain and cooler temperatures. We were briefly entering a drought across most of the region but have come back to normal after this past weekend’s rain. Most corn fields I saw are between R3 (Milk) and R4 (Dough).…

The following is a summary of the WILLAg.org content from the work week ending July 31, 2026. WILLAg.org is a partnership of Illinois Public Media and University of Illinois Extension. Its mission is to distribute regionally, nationally, and internationally information and analysis of commodity markets and agricultural weather. Agricultural Markets Synthesis Agricultural commodity markets experienced high volatility and a sharp downward move during the week, driven by shifting weather models, geopolitical headlines, and macroeconomic pressures.…

Russ Higgins – Commercial Agriculture Educator Grundy County Soil Conditions: Near Normal This past week saw hail, substantial rain, and missed opportunities for needed precipitation in varying fields across the northeast region of Illinois. Corn has reached R3 or the milk stage in the field I have been scouting this summer. At this stage the kernel no longer adds new cells to the kernel endosperm but fills the existing cells with liquid starch.…