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| Corn Planting Underway |
Activity is picking up in the state's farm fields and a new planting season has begun.
The first crop report of 2010 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture says above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation last week allowed fields to start drying out. The report adds most fields were still too damp for proper tillage, however, farmers did get in some very limited fertilizer application and started planting corn late in the week.
USDA crop statistician Mark Schleusener says the weather was pretty good in some parts of the state for corn planting.
"We did have a very nice week for drying, with wind and sun, above-average temperatures, and such like that," Schleusener said. "I would think that a fair number of fields, at least on the top few inches are getting in good shape."
The statewide average temperature was a mild 57.6 degrees, which was 10.1 degrees warmer than the norm for this time of they year. Rainfall averaged just under three-quarters of an inch across the state. Western Illinois was the recipient of 1.14 inches of rain, the most in the state and the only crop reporting district that had above-average precipitation. The region's temperature averaged 58.5 degrees - or 11.5 degrees above normal.
The USDA rates the state's farmland as having either adequate or surplus moisture. Farmers had less than three full days suitable for field work last week.
The amount of corn in the ground so far is less than 1 percent. Schleusener says most of what's been planted is along rivers in sandy soil that drains well. |
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| 04 09 10 by Newsroom |
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