Until last night, many farmers were in the field over the past eight days applying ammonia or burndown treatments, while others were tilling and planting. It was a very good run, but limited rainfall raised concerns about delayed or uneven corn and soybean emergence. Over the past week, about 135 GDDs have accumulated, with most occurring in the past three days due to warm temperatures. Just under an inch of rain fell overnight, providing needed moisture to support emergence. Field conditions are now too wet for fieldwork for the next several days, and it is too early to evaluate plant stands.

Planting is in full swing in southern Illinois, with some areas to the east finished or close to finishing. Many areas could use rain, which would help get the crop up and going.

Daytime temperatures are fluctuating from the 40s to the 80s. With 3-5 inches of rain from last week and 0.4-1 inch this week, soil conditions have been moist. Due to cooler nights, soil temperatures are not optimal for planting conditions. While days become warmer and soil gets up to optimal conditions, we have laid out and accomplished proper protocols for the Sulfur 2.0 trial and HumiK trials.

With the Sulfur 2.0 trial, in one field we are comparing ATS vs. AMS vs. untreated. In another field, we are comparing AMS vs. 32%. With these comparisons, the goal is to find what better fits the sulfur. In another field, we set up our HumiK trial, which allows organic matter to build in the soil.

The field we are trialing has a very sandy-like texture, which lacks organic matter, giving us the opportunity to experiment on whether this product will benefit this field and how to build it up to get the most yield possible.

Weather is warmer and drier than normal, and I think we will start to see planters rolling a little early this season. In this report, I would like to focus attention on the carry-over effects of 2025 trials on 2026 cereal rye cover crops. The first image is the 0-N treatment from a 2025 MRTN trial. The second image is a 0-N treatment alongside a 200-N treatment in the same trial. In both images, the biomass on the 0-N control is significantly less than where we used commercial nitrogen. This begs two questions: how much nitrogen would be lost from near optimum N rates if we weren’t growing a cereal rye cover behind it? And just as importantly, if we are trying to build soil health, how important is commercial nitrogen to drive biomass production? The last image is a little harder to interpret, but it shows the residual strips of greater cereal rye biomass associated with a 2025 in-furrow nitrogen fixing bacteria treatment applied with only water. This begs another question: what is the long-term value/impact of biological treatments in the soil biome? As usual, agronomy comes with more questions than answers and a lot of ‘it depends’, but we are seeing some clues to help us figure out what’s happening.

“Work around limited rain delays” best describes grower activity in the west-central Illinois area.

Rainfall over the Easter weekend varied from a tenth to 3 inches across the region. By midweek, many of our drier areas were able to initiate fieldwork and rack up some impressive planting progress.

The period during and immediately following that rainfall resulted in lower temperatures, but conditions warmed by midweek, with the week ahead also looking warm.

Where fieldwork was delayed past midweek, efforts appeared largely focused on the spring battle to eliminate purple and green from the field. Disks, field cultivators and sprayers dotted the landscape.

Growers in drier regions made significant progress on soybean and corn planting over the past week, though activity was not limited to this period alone. Late March soybean planting appears to have increased in 2026, resulting in my west-central Illinois colleague, Andrew Malcomson, Beck’s agronomist, observing emerged, early-planted soybeans late in the week. An increase in stale seedbed preparation also appears to be at play, making it difficult to initially detect planted fields during windshield surveys.

The evening of April 9 brought additional rainfall that initially appeared poised to curtail most fieldwork heading into the weekend. However, growers were soon back at it, and an initial forecast for additional rainfall just ahead of Tax Day increasingly appears less likely to materialize.

Cover crop growth in Iroquois County is quickly progressing with the recent rainfall and warming weather.

Soybean planting has begun in my area. Seeding populations were increased 5% to 10% due to lower germination from last year’s dry harvest. There is some concern about winter annuals emerging strongly, especially in fields that did not receive a fall burndown. Previous cool temperatures, along with recent windy conditions, have hindered herbicide burndown applications.

Soft red winter wheat has reached Feekes 6, with one node that can be felt in the main stem at about 2.5 inches above the soil line, as indicated by the lower arrow in Image 1. Older vegetative growth is showing two classic freeze injury symptoms from overnight lows that reached 18 F on March 17: The middle arrow points to a classical striated horizontal band on the mid-leaf, and the top arrow shows necrosis at the leaf tip. Thankfully, the growth point was protected, and new growth is showing no injury at all. This field of wheat received two applications of nitrogen, 50 lbs. N/ac as UAN in late February and 60 lbs. N/ac as UAN the last week of March. We had 1.57 inches of rain for the week ending April 3 and some warmer temperatures to drive nitrogen uptake and very rapid growth.

No planters rolling yet that I have seen. About 75% of NH3 was applied in the past week, but fields that were not sprayed with fall residual herbicide are greening up rapidly. Many will require aggressive tillage or a burndown herbicide prior to planting.

Fall harvest is running on all eight cylinders around here. Almost everyone is cutting soybeans, and the harvest dust proves it! They are coming out pretty dry, too — I’ve heard moistures under 10% are common.

Corn harvest is ramping up as some producers are beginning to get soybeans finished. All the corn I’ve checked has black-layered now and has lost all of its green color.

As I complete this report, the temperature is flirting with the 90-degree mark… in October! It has been dry over the last two weeks. There’s a slight chance of rain starting 10/6, but when it has been as warm and dry as this, I won’t believe it until I see it.

Field crews should continue to take extra precautions to prevent and contain fires. It seems there are a few reported around the state each day. Keep your head on a swivel and look out for one another out there. Be safe!!

More heat and little to no moisture—where have we heard that before? This time, though, the hot and dry weather patterns are helping to propel us through harvest across the Midwest. The entire state of Illinois is experiencing some degree of drought, with the central and southern regions well into a D2 drought. Overall, northern Illinois is sitting around a D1 drought. Across the DeKalb area, corn and soybeans are being harvested as we have hit maturity. Most soybean fields are ready to harvest, with noticeable green stem in some of the fields I have scouted. Soybean pods are filled with good-sized seeds, and harvest should go quickly, with bean moisture dropping too low being a limiting factor. Corn fields are a little behind and, depending on variety and planting date, are at maturity and being harvested. With near-record highs projected into the weekend, corn ears should continue to dry down rapidly and drop from the corn stalks.

Corn prices are averaging $3.80–$4.10 in northern and central Illinois, while soybean prices are between $9.50–$9.80, and prices continue to remain low. I have not seen early averages for corn and soybeans, but the expectation is for a high-yielding harvest, which will hopefully offset the lower commodity prices.

Once again, I wish everyone a safe and happy harvest!