The Field Report

September 18, 2025|

In a Drought, but Corn is Too Wet to Harvest

The current Illinois drought map (11 September) shows severe drought in the northern 40% of Piatt County and moderate drought in the rest of Piatt and adjacent areas of neighboring counties.

Trent Brandenburg has barely started harvesting because his corn moisture ranges from 40% to 17% and he doesn’t want to pay the elevator to dry it. “Soybeans are not ready yet; they are still green,” he continued. So Trent has just “cut the corners,” harvesting the very corner of his cornfields at rural crossroads to provide better visibility (and safety) for motorists approaching the crossroad. Trent estimates he has harvested “about 4%” of his crops so far this year.

Trent got his best yields, thus far, from corn planted in early April. He is happy with the test weights he has seen. Rain is predicted for later this week (18-19 September), but not a significant amount. The Illinois State Climatologist reports the driest August on record in Mt Vernon (0.09 inches), Centralia (0.09 inches), and Charleston (0.03 inches), and the second driest in Springfield (0.16 inches) and Effingham (0.32 inches). Northern Illinois was much wetter.

More from The Field Report

  • Crop Protection of soybeans with drone spraying

Summertime Mowing And Spraying

August 6, 2025|

Trent Brandenburg has been busy mowing his lawn and his roadsides due to the sunshine and frequent rains making his grass grow as well as his corn and soybeans. He has been hiring aerial spraying of fungicides to suppress disease in his corn and soybeans. [...]

Everything Looks Pretty Good, Says Trent

May 23, 2025|

Trent Brandenburg has finished planting except for a few ponds. He is pleased with the germination so far. It is still too wet for side-dressing, but at least the Drought Monitor shows no dryness in Trent's farming area of Central Illinois. The cool weather of [...]

Waiting For It To Dry Out

April 22, 2025|

Trent Brandenburg got 1.5 inches of rainfall over Easter Weekend, so he is "waiting for it to dry out," to resume planting. He began planting last Tuesday, April 15. Trent estimated he has about a third of his corn and soybean acreage planted. He hasn't [...]

Shoveling Bins, Discing, and Waiting

March 31, 2025|

Trent Brandenburg has been shoveling out the last contents of his grain bins to market the last of his stored grain. He has been able to do some discing to prepare for soybean planting. The windy days have been too windy for preplant chemical applications, [...]

The Field Report Archive

21st Century Farming with Traditional Values
Go to Top