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| Illinois Corn Harvest About Wrapped Up |
Farmers across the state have all but completed planting corn thanks to another week of good weather.
Last week's average temperature of 58.2 degrees in Illinois was nearly a full degree cooler than normal, the first time that's happened in several weeks. Rainfall averaged 44-hundredths of an inch, more than a half-inch below normal. Farmers had 4.4 days suitable for work in their fields.
The USDA says seven of the state's nine crop reporting districts have corn at least 90 percent planted. That includes 99 percent completed in central and eastern Illinois and 98 percent finished in the northeast district. The tally in western Illinois, 88 percent, is only ahead of the southeast district's 79 percent as the slowest pace so far. Fifty-three percent of this region's corn is emerged
Statewide, 94 percent of the corn is planted, a gain of seven percentage points, and 63 percent is emerged. That's up 24 points compared to the previous week. Both numbers remain well ahead of the five-year averages and the totals from last year at this time. The corn crop is rated 82 percent in good or excellent condition.
Illinois field office director for the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service Brad Schwab says soybeans look good right now too.
"We've got 33% of the state's crop planted," Schwab said. "That compares to zero percent last year -- that's no surprise. Then we had 18% for the five year average. 4% has actually emerged to this date."
The soybean crop in western Illinois is 21 percent planted and 2 percent is emerged, both numbers behind the statewide average but ahead of the five-year average.
Topsoil moisture is not a problem in Illinois. The USDA says 94 percent of the state's farmland has adequate or surplus moisture, including 100 percent in western Illinois. |
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| 05 12 10 by Newsroom |
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