Crop Watcher 08-20-10 Anticipation

Todd Easton Coles County August 20 2010: The heat wave finally broke at the beginning of the week after some much needed rains came thru over the weekend. Unfortunately the rain was varied across the county with the north half getting an inch and a half or more and southern parts of the county barely got a sprinkle. Hopefully this weekend will bring more measurable precipitation because the soybean crop could still really use it to fill out the pods. The corn crop is now in the dry down phase as producers are in a rush to get equipment ready for the early harvest. Over in the far west side of the county there are reports of a few combines going after wind damaged corn fields and moisture tests are in the low twenties on some fields. Hopefully next week we will have some reliable yield reports to share and see how this crop dealt with this seasons challenges.