The story in western and central Illinois seems to be a tale (once again) of two extremes. An abundance of progress in western Illinois row crops being planted (last week pushing 50-60% – this week much higher than that). Getting first trifoliates and thinking about second in some of the earliest planted fields (early being March planted and yes…. some February). Cut to the south east area, butting up towards Lake Shelbyville, and they finally were given a shot this week. Before that (end of last week), you would be lucky to say 10% in many areas. More rainfall as of mid-week, enough to have stalled any planting for a day or two. Cutworm concerns growing & wheat in the southern part of that area will be thinking about boot soon.

Planting has been in two distinct windows so far this spring. The week of April 14th before rain started on April 17th through Easter weekend and starting April 25th through today April 30th. Corn planting as of today is estimated around 70% with some no-till corn and some worked ground to be finished. Corn emergence estimated at 10-15% Soybeans planted estimated at 40% with 5% emerged.

Spring burndown continues for some when it’s not windy. Corn and soybean plantings are well underway. The race is on for some before the rain that’s expected Wednesday and Thursday.

Field work of all types is underway. The last 2 days of 30+mph wind has hampered spraying operations but spring tillage and planting operations are continuing.

We were starting to almost be dry enough to start fieldwork again but it rained today. The mid March planted corn and soybeans have just emerged. The previous winds have brought significant flights of cutworm moths in traps.

After receiving a significant amount of rain (1.5-2.0) over 2-3 days, planting and spraying halted until late week, with sprayers rolling again on Thursday. These wet conditions allowed everyone to catch up on maintenance items, mapping boundaries, and ultimately not feeling guilty about taking some family time Easter Sunday. We anticipate planting to resume Friday into the weekend as conditions become more favorable. There was also learning opportunities to “sharpen the blade” such as Illinois Soybean Association’s Agronomy Team’s Q&A webinar and other industry insight webinars.

Following weekend rainfall (4/18–4/21), most of the area received 1–1.5″. By Wednesday (4/23), fields had dried out enough for farmers to get back to work. Tillage ramped up midweek as we enjoyed sunshine, calm winds, and temps reaching the 80s. Soil temperatures have been hovering in the mid-50s. Soybeans are going in, corn planting is underway, and ag retailers are staying busy with dry fertilizer, anhydrous ammonia, and preplant herbicide applications.
Field work is moving quickly as farmers take advantage of the favorable conditions ahead of Friday’s forecasted rain.

In the fields of Knox County and the surrounding areas, we are seeing soybean planters rolling, sprayers running, and what is presenting to be purple henbit weed popping up across the majority of the fields. Early in the week, planting conditions were ideal, with a slight weather delay mid-week, but by Thursday evening, growers were going again.

Drying field conditions , rivers still above flood stage. Work in uplands progressing very well.

We kicked off #plant25 by planting 4.0 maturity soybean. We are taking advantage of a very, small planting window before a long stint of forecasted rain.