Harvest has begun in select fields in northern Champaign County. A number of corn fields have been “opened up”, and I saw a couple soybean fields where harvest had also started. However, there are still plenty of corn and beans in the county holding on to some green leaves, but the warm, dry weather has been moving things along quickly. Most corn fields surveyed were at or within a few days of R6 (physiological maturity; black layer), although I did find a couple fields still at mid-R5 (dent). Soybeans ranged from late R6 (full seed) through R8 (full maturity) with most falling in the R7 (beginning maturity) range. As is the case in much of the state that didn’t get appreciable rain out of the remnants of last week’s Hurricane (then Tropical Storm) Francine, soil conditions are getting dry in northern Champaign County.