Rain is expected for Northeast Illinois this week, if it materializes it will provide needed moisture. Its benefit to most crops at this stage is uncertain, but we will decrease the fire risk associated with starting harvest when crops are tinder dry. It’s becoming a challenge to share information on the 2026 crop; we are so close to harvest most are in a wait and see attitude. Several late season observations include a very rapid dry down for the corn crop. Moisture levels for hand shelled samples for 105-day (2550 GDU’s) and 108-day (2580 GDU’s) hybrids were 24.8% and 18.8% respectively. As mentioned in previous reports, the loss of color and drydown of the corn crops in this region has been dramatic. When hand shelling corn kernels that did not fill (aborted) on the ear were noticeable. Kernel abortion is when a kernel is successfully pollinated, starts to form but stops developing and shrivels because the plant cannot supply needed photosynthate during early grain fill. This is often due to environmental stress. Of note in some soy fields is the variation of plants reaching maturity. This too can likely be attributed to environmental stress during the growing season. An example is areas that were temporarily ponded or saturated are lagging behind other parts of the field.