Looking back: A quick harvest
Dan Fehr, who farms with his father and uncle in Livingston County, got started early on his corn harvest since he had quite a bit of downed corn from summer wind events.
The moisture was high but they wanted to get some fields opened up for the insurance company to look at the crops.
“We wanted to get some of it out before it gets too dry, otherwise it wants to snap off and plug up the head,” Fehr told The Central Illinois Farm Network.
Not only did the Fehrs have twisted cornfields, but there was quite a bit of green snap out there. The yield in some places was surprising but in other areas, Fehr estimates there is 40 to 50 percent damage.
Jim Martin, who serves as a district six director for the Illinois Soybean Association, farms near Wenona in LaSalle County. The Enlist soybeans he harvested were planted in April, running about 64 bushels per acre and testing 11-12 percent moisture.
“The yield is reasonable, we just can’t complain because we had quite the drought during the month of August,” Martin said. “The seed quality is a little more borderline this year as the seeds are a little smaller.”
Early into the 2020 harvest season, Jason Birkenbeil saw better-than-expected yields.
Yields were coming in around 211-212 bushels per acre from 110-day corn planted April 20. Birkenbeil also started harvesting soybeans in the past week which were 11 percent moisture and pushing 60 bushels per acre. The soybeans are group 2.7 maturity so they are early.
“Along the Livingston and Ford County line, we missed most of the rains but if you go north of here, things are a lot greener and a little more behind,” Birkenbeil noted.
Unlike some areas to the north, Birkenbeil’s fields did escape major wind damage from summer storms. One weather system did move through and knocked some of the tops off the corn. Crops were flattened in a couple of spots.
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