Cropwatcher 11/13/09

Todd Easton Coles County November 13 2009: Just concluded another late night out in the field. One of several in the past week which is a good sign that progress is being made. Standing soybeans have been nowhere to be found for the last week as producers are almost completely engaged in harvesting the corn crop. Moistures are running in the 18 to 20 percent range still making the elevator lines long and slow but not as bad as they have been. Tillage tools have been out in large numbers now that soil conditions have improved. Judging from the basketball sized clods rippers are leaving behind them this last year did a lot of damage to the soil structure. After a whole year of weather related complications the last couple of weeks have been a blessing. Hopefully the forecasted rains won’t amount to much and we can get the bulk of this harvest finished before the end of the month.