cropCENTRAL | Field Crop Production Resources

Steve Brand– Commercial Agriculture Specialist
DeKalb County
Soil Condition: Near Normal
We have had a bit of a mini heat wave here in the middle of September as temperatures returned to near normal compared to the previous two weeks of cooler weather. The warmer temperatures are helping the corn and soybeans progress along through maturity as we are a bit behind the rest of the state harvest and maturity-wise. As the rest of the state is entering into some more substantial droughts,…

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While August rainfall is the “soybean maker,” July rainfall is also important to the podsetting process that sets up yield potential. July rainfall was plentiful overall in Illinois, but varied from an inch or two less than normal in parts of southern Illinois to more than twice normal amounts in western and northwestern Illinois. In contrast, August rainfall was less than normal over all but the northern edge of the state,…

Another beautiful weather week in Illinois as we transition from summer to fall. Average temperatures this week ranged from the low 60s to low 70s, between 1 and 7 degrees below normal.
by Trent Ford, State Climatologist
ISWS PRI University of Illinois
Although we didn’t see nighttime lows dip into the 30s yet, we did get 40 degrees in Stockton and 42 in Monmouth. The cool end to summer was welcome after an extremely hot and humid season.…

Russ Higgins – Commercial Agriculture Educator
Grundy County
Soil Conditions: Moderately Dry (soil is dry, plants may be browning or stressed, water bodies are low)
Harvest is on the horizon, maturity and drydown will likely be expedited with the return of forecast warmer temperatures. Looking back 150-170 days and evaluating the current growing season, most crop stressors were environmental (dry or drought conditions) or related to plant disease (primarily in the corn crop).…