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| Corn and Soybeans Benefit From Warm Week |
All Illinois field crops made good progress last week as a result of warmer weather and rain that, in some places, fell at the right time.
Average precipitation in the state was just one-third of an inch, which is more than a half-inch below average. The most rain, a little over three-quarters of an inch, fell in the northwest crop reporting district. The eastern and southeastern parts of the state could use more rain. A little more than a half-inch fell in the southeast, where topsoil moisture is still rated 24 percent short. The eastern district is the driest in the state with 51 percent of its fields rated short of moisture. Only 13-hundredths of an inch of rain fell there.
Temperatures in the state were slightly above average at 74.5 degrees. The southeast region was the warmest at 76.9 degrees and the northwest the coolest at 72.5. Corn advanced to 46 percent in the dough stage and 96 percent of the crop is now silked, just three percentage points behind last year's number. The condition of the state's corn is rated 62 percent good or excellent.
USDA crop statistician Brad Schwab says 60 percent of the state's soybeans are rated in good or excellent condition. "Soybeans in the bloom stage were reported at 89 percent, compared to 92-percent one year ago and 97-percent for the five-year average," Schwab said. "58-percent of the state's acreage was reported setting pods, and this compares to 68-percent one year ago, and 87-percent normally."
Soybeans in western Illinois are 90 percent blooming and 42 percent are setting pods. The crop is the most advanced in central Illinois.
The USDA also reports 85 percent of the oat crop is harvested compared to 100 percent in recent years. Sorghum is 54 percent headed compared to 66 percent last year and the five-year average of 87 percent. In addition, alfalfa is 43 percent cut. The total was 63 percent last year and 69 percent for the five-year average. |
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| 08 21 09 by Newsroom |
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