Crop Production

The 2013 corn growing season has had its share of ups and downs, with late planting due to early rainfall, more rain in June, and temperatures that were at or below normal most of the season until recent weeks. Pollination conditions were good in most places, with adequate soil moisture and generally good temperatures. By late July most fields were in good shape, with good kernel counts and good canopy color and leaf health.
Much of the crop reached the middle part of August in good shape,…

Late planting and weather that continues to be cooler than normal into August has many wondering if the corn and soybean crops will reach maturity and harvest moisture within a reasonable time this fall. Crop conditions remain good for both crops, but crop development, including pod formation and filling in soybean and grain fill in corn, remains well behind normal. Corn is 10 days to 2 weeks behind normal, and soybeans are 2 to 3 weeks behind normal.…

We are starting to get reports that corn pollination might not have been as successful as expected in parts of Illinois. While the weather was generally favorable during the peak period of pollination, it was warm during the third week of July, and soil water may have been limiting during this period in some fields. Thus we would expect to see this in the areas with low rainfall in July.
This is not the lack of silking that we saw in many areas under the drought of 2012.…

The third week of July brought above-normal temperatures to much of Illinois. This is expected to be temporary, with temperatures the fourth week expected to return to normal. Because soils in most areas had enough water to carry the crop through the week, we don’t think the high daytime temperatures were much cause for concern.
By July 14, 21 percent of the Illinois corn crop was pollinating. This included most fields planted before May 10 to 15.…

The June weather pattern in Illinois was variable, and the month is ending with rainfall totals ranging from a little less than normal in parts of western Illinois to nearly double the normal amounts, with some totals as high as 7 to 8 inches, in parts of southeastern and northern Illinois.
While getting rainfall in June is certainly preferable to getting little or none as happened in Illinois in 2012, standing water and wet soils can badly damage a rapidly-growing corn crop.…