Crop Watcher week four - Think Dry (for now)

picture from top of leg to the west shows the young corn crop and the new county road being constructed in the far west as it prepares to discect the farm in a couple years.


Todd Easton Coles County May 21 2010: Planting progress was very minimal across the county in the last week. A few planters and toolbars got started back up last Friday joined by several more on Saturday until light mid afternoon rain halted progress once again. Sunday and Monday brought more precipitation accumulating to around 1.5” followed by more light rain that came on Thursday just as fields had just started graying off on top. The corn crop is looking pretty good approaching the V4 stage in some of the earlier plantings but would still be better off if some steady warmth would show up. Soybeans that were planted in the beginning of the first big push a couple of weeks ago are just emerging this week and look to have good stands. Until next week keep thinking dry weather thoughts (short term) and maybe we can still wrap up this planting season before June.

Crop Watcher week three - Steady Progress

Todd Easton Coles County May 14 2010: Farming activities were at a steady pace across Coles County at the beginning of the week until Monday evening rains stopped operations the northern part of the county and then Tuesday night rains halted the rest of the county. Cumulative rainfall for the area as of Friday morning was just short of an inch. Soybean planting has progressed rapidly ranging from around half done for many producers to nearly done for a few early birds. The very earliest planted soybeans are up and in the V1 stage and look to have good stands but the vast majority have not emerged yet. The majority of the corn crop is at or around the V3 stage this week and has been a bit pale thanks to the cooler weather but should green up and grow up pretty fast whenever the heat decides to show up. This past year has really made a bad case for global warming to say the least. Side dress and spraying activities for the corn have been going well and should start back up this weekend and get completed in a timely manner barring any significant rain events next week.

Crop watching week two - weatherman woes

Todd Easton Coles County May 7 2010: A line from a popular song goes “the waiting is the hardest part” and in the spring for farmers that is especially true. A highly varied amount of rainfall hit the area over the weekend (1st & 2nd) but because of good drying weather and anxiety to get some work done sprayers once again hit the field on Tuesday followed by planters and toolbars on Wednesday. Some of the motivation seems to come from the weatherman who keeps saying more rain is around the corner whenever you check in with him. With corn planting a fond memory for virtually everyone soybean planting has hit its stride with my best guess being 10 to 20 percent completed. The handful of bean fields planted ahead of the rains two weeks ago have emerged and are looking good. In the corn fields rows of green are easy to see but with the cooler weather the crop has not shown much change from last week. That has not stopped several side dress applicators including myself from going over several fields and surprisingly the job can be done in two inch corn with no problem. Well we will see if the Weatherman’s promises hold true this weekend but with farmers finding themselves in the middle of the ideal bean planting window it’s going to be hard for them to stop in anticipation of a rain that may or may not come.