Illinois corn, soybeans below averages

Corn crop
Illinois’ corn crop is 55 percent silked. (Photo by Jason Ippolito/flickr)

By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois corn and soybeans are coming along, albeit below average, according to the latest USDA crop report.

Corn is 55 percent silked, with 56 percent rated good to excellent. Soybeans are 33 percent blooming and two percent setting pods, with 48 percent rated good to excellent.

That’s all according to Doug Hartwig, the Heartland Region (Illinois and Missouri) director of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. He looks forward to the high temperatures in the forecast.

“I’ve been told the two-week period before tassling and two weeks after is when the corn crop gets made,” says Hartwig. “The warmer, drier conditions will certainly, overall, probably, be better for field activities.”

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