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Region 3 | September 24, 2025 | Ford

Talon Becker
tbecker2@illinois.edu

Caption: Corn ear at R6 “black layer” with tar spot visible on leaves
SYNOPSIS

This past week brought some relief from the dry weather in east-central IL, but rainfall totals in the region were generally 1″ and variable, with some areas receiving 0.1″ (IL State Water Survey – WARM Program; Midwest Regional Climate Center – Ag Climate Dashboard). Unfortunately, it comes too late for most of the corn and soybean crop to benefit. That said, during my survey in Ford County this week, I did see a number of pastures, double-crop soybean fields, a few alfalfa fields, and a handful of fields planted to annual forage mixes that will get some benefit from the precipitation as the growing season winds down.

Harvested corn and soybean acres in Ford County were still low—perhaps 10%—with the recent rain stalling progress for a few days. At the time of my survey, more soybean fields had been cleared than corn fields, though there were still a number of corn fields fully harvested or at least “opened up.” All corn fields surveyed were at R6 (“black layer”), but about half were still showing some green in the upper canopy. Tar spot is also easy to find at this point in the season, with heavier pressure in the northern part of the county. However, it appears to have come in late enough not to have greatly affected yields, with relatively full ears on most plants checked during the survey. Of the full-season soybean fields surveyed, most were at R8 (“full maturity”), while the couple of double-crop soybean fields I stopped at seemed to be stuck in R5, struggling to fill pods.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING BEST DESCRIBES CURRENT CONDITIONS IN THIS COUNTY?
Mildly Dry (soil is drier than normal, plant growth may have slowed)
IF CONDITIONS ARE ON THE DRY END, WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING US DROUGHT MONITOR CATEGORIES BEST FIT CURRENT CONDITIONS
Abnormally Dry (D0)