Markets, Weather, Crop Tour, & the Farm Progress Show
We had one more week of warm and humid conditions, with temperatures between 4 and 8 degrees above normal. August to date has been around 2 to 4 degrees warmer than average statewide, and this summer so far is among the top 10 warmest in most places. What is notable about this hot summer, though, is the lack of extreme daytime high temperatures; and in fact only a handful of locations in Illinois have seen high temperatures reach into the triple digits this year. This is all thanks to the persistently high humidity and its moderating affect on high temperatures.
Rainfall was a bit harder to come by this week, at least outside of northern Illinois. 7-day totals ranged from virtually no rain in southwest Illinois to just over 6 inches in northeast Illinois. There is a big north-to-south gradient in rainfall over the past month or so, with most of northern Illinois having had 150 to 200% of normal rainfall over that time, while much of southern Illinois has only had about 30 to 40% of normal rainfall since mid-July. Short-term dryness in far southern Illinois has been worsened by unrelenting heat, producing the right conditions for flash drought. Indeed, the US Drought Monitor has indicated rapid drought intensification in much of far southern and southwest Illinois over the past 3 weeks.
Looking ahead, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that a strong cold front will move through the state on Saturday, and most of next week will feature high temperatures in the 70s and very low 80s statewide. It is likely that some folks will wake up on Monday morning to temperatures in the 40s, so get those kids jackets ready. The cooler weather will persist through next week, making for ideal conditions for Farm Progress. Longer term outlooks even show the cooler weather stretching into the first few days of September. The bad news, at least for parts of southern and east-central Illinois, is that the cooler weather will also usher in a prolonged dry spell. 7-day precipitation forecasts show mostly less than a quarter of an inch over the next week across the entire state. More comfortable temperatures will at least slow the flash drought in southern Illinois, but we will need actual rain to make considerable improvements. For now, we can all enjoy the nice weather upcoming this weekend and next week.
by Trent Ford, State Climatologist
ISWS PRI University of Illinois
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The Pro Farmer Crop Tour wrapped up Friday with the firm releasing its national average crop size estimates. Lane Akre says the scouts found a big crop coming under disease pressure. USDA had forecast it to be 188.8 bushels of corn to the acre as of August 1. Pro Farmer puts the national average corn yield at 182.7 with the soybeans .7 bushels below USDA at 53.
We’ll take up those yields and much more from the stage in the University of Illinois tent this week at the Farm Progress Show. Click on the calendar links in red below to see which U of I crops and economics specialists will be making presentations. The University of Illinois tent is just inside and to the right of the front gate about two blocks.
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS TENT STAGE SCHEDULE
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WILLAg.org radio programming for the work week ending August 22, 2025
Commodity Week can be heard in the 2 o’clock hour central time on WILL AM580 or you may subscribe to it using the links in the player below. This week the panelists include Dave Chatterton from SFarmMarketing.com, Curt Kimmel of AgMarket.net, Brian Stark with AndersonsGrain.com.
The Closing Market Report airs at 2:06 p.m. central daily on WILL AM580. It, too, is a podcast. Subscribe using the link in the player.