Weather aids Illinois corn, soybean harvest

Posted on October 14, 2015
Corn harvest
Illinois corn and soybean harvests are 71 percent complete. (Photo by Carrie Muehling/WJBC)

By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – The weather was nearly perfect for harvesting corn and soybeans last week.

The weekly USDA crop report shows both corn and soybean harvests 71 percent complete, with statewide average temperatures five to six degrees warmer than normal and the precipitation 3/100 of an inch.

Who would complain?

“I did see a comment that if the crop gets a little bit too dry, it’s not optimal, and some producers may be waiting for a rain to moisten up the crop,” said Mark Schleusener, the USDA’s state statistician for Illinois. “I have almost never heard that before. That’s not a USDA statistic; that’s a comment that I’ve heard.”

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