7am News, Sports and Obits
Latest WGIL news
Click to play or
Right click and "Save Target As" to download
Click for Galesburg, Illinois Forecast
Home - Cancellations - Community Events - Contact Us - Mornings - News - Obituaries - Pictures - Programs - Special Events Audio - Sports - Weather
Rain Leaves Farmers Concerned
A local agriculture expert is more than a little concerned about what the weather of this week and next will do to planting.

Agronomist Greg Jones of Abingdon says the weather at the beginning of April was great, with plenty of warm, dry days and good soil conditions that let farmers get into the fields and start work.

Jones says now, however, is a different story, with a lot of cold, wet conditions. Jones tells WGIL some types of seeds will do fine in this weather pattern, some won't.

"There are some hybrid differences in their ability to handle what we call 'stress emergence,'" Jones said. "[Seed] companies in recent years have started to rate hybrids based on their ability to handle stressful conditions like we're in right now. Generally, after you plant corn, it takes about 120 GDU's [Growing Degree Units] for it to germinate and emerge from the soil."

Jones says at the local Monmouth research facility, there were about 90 GDU's in the first half of the month, but only a couple so far in the second half.

He says he does believe some seed that's already been planted will start to rot in the ground because some diseases do a lot of damage in weather like this.
04 22 11 by Newsroom
News management powered by Xpression News

Click here for the WGIL News Archive

Click here for national news

The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.