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.

Rain again after 3 days of field work. Corn maybe 10% planted in our 10 counties. Soybeans planting less than that. A few March beans are in first trifoliate (V1).

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.

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.

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.