By Cole Lauterbach/Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – A dry August looks to have taken its toll on Illinois’ crops.

Agribusiness marketing company Pro Farmer released its annual crop projections from their tour of corn and soybean producing states. It expects Illinois to average 181 bushels per acre this fall. That’s down from their prediction of 194 last year. They observed fields suffering from nitrogen deficiencies and a general lack of rainfall in the summary of their field tour through the state.

Mark Schleusener with the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service accompanied Pro Farmer on the tour. He said fields often had some moisture in them but were mostly in need of rain.

“It’s going in the direction that wasn’t too hard to anticipate because the month of August has been dryer than normal across most of the state of Illinois,” he said.

In their August 28 crop condition report, NASS listed only 52 percent of the state’s corn crop as excellent or good. That’s been gradually declining throughout July and August.

State Climatologist Jim Angel said the central part of Illinois is currently experiencing a drought, according to the University of Nebraska’s Drought Monitor.

“Most of the state is about one to two inches below normal but a few hot spots, around Champaign, for instance, are down two to four inches,” he said.