Early-Season Crop Progress and Conditions – June 2026
Despite cool, uneven spring weather and patchy drought conditions, Illinois’ 2026 corn and soybean crops were planted on schedule with generally average early conditions, and improving warmth and rainfall in June are expected to support continued growth and reduce drought stress.
Illinois Winter Wheat Enters Spring in Good Condition
Illinois winter wheat is entering spring in strong condition, but yield potential will ultimately depend on weather in May and early June.
Double-crop Soybean Management Practices – Project Report
As wheat-soybean double-cropping expands north in Illinois, Giovani Preza Fontes shares field trial data on soybean maturity selection, seeding rate and fertility management.
The Current Grain Farm Financial Position in a Longer-Term Perspective
Re-posted from farmdoc: A long-term look at Illinois grain farm finances shows why 2024 marked a historic income low and highlights the tightening financial outlook for grain farms.
Red Crown Rot Progressing in Illinois: Symptoms Confirmed in Shelby County Commercial Fields
Red crown rot is advancing in Illinois, with confirmed infections now in Shelby County soybean commercial fields.
Red Crown Rot Symptoms Emerging in Illinois Soybeans
Red crown rot symptoms are surfacing in Illinois soybeans—scout now to identify and manage this emerging threat.
Nitrogen Fertilizer and Soybean Yield: What We Learned from Multi-Year Trials in Illinois
Illinois research confirms that most soybean fields are unlikely to benefit agronomically — and even less likely economically — from nitrogen fertilizer applications.
Wet Spring Weather and Nitrogen Loss Revisited
With May's rainfall continuing following a wetter-than-usual April, concerns regarding nitrogen (N) losses are on the rise. In this farmdoc article, Giovani Preza Fontes and Emerson Nafziger talk about the concern of how much N will be available for the 2024 corn crop and determining the optimal timing for additional N application.
International Benchmarks for Soybean Production
This farmdoc article analyzes yield, gross revenue, and costs across soybean farms in Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States, finding notably higher figures for U.S. farms. Overall, the period from 2018 to 2022 was profitable for soybean production across most farms, except for the typical farm in Canada, exhibiting a positive economic profit.
Farm Policy and the Brief Saga of Soybeans, Part 2
From farmdoc: Jonathan Coppess provides a regional overview of soybean adoption by American farmers, spanning over a century. He explains how the pace of adoption and the changes in crop rotations were not uniform among the states and crops.
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