From USDA SPRINGFIELD – There were 5.8 days suitable for field work during the week ending August 29, 2021. Statewide, the average temperature was 80.1 degrees, 6.5 degrees above normal. Precipitation averaged 0.82 inches, 0.02 inches above normal. Topsoil moisture supply was rated 5 percent very short, 20 percent short, 70 percent adequate, and 5 percent…… MORE
By USDA SPRINGFIELD – There were 6.4 days suitable for field work during the week ending August 22, 2021. Statewide, the average temperature was 74.9 degrees, 1.1 degrees above normal. Precipitation averaged 0.38 inches, 0.33 inches below normal. Topsoil moisture supply was rated 5 percent very short, 31 percent short, 56 percent adequate, and…… MORE
From USDA SPRINGFIELD – There were 4.6 days suitable for field work during the week ending August 15, 2021. Statewide, the average temperature was 76.9 degrees, 3.2 degrees above normal. Precipitation averaged 1.70 inches, 0.80 inches above normal. Topsoil moisture supply was rated 2 percent very short, 12 percent short, 76 percent adequate, and 10…… MORE
By Dave Dahl SPRINGFIELD – The first look at the 2021 crop yield forecast is here, and hopes are high. The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service survey projects yields of 214 bushels of corn per acre and 64 bushels of soybeans in Illinois. Both would be records. Nationally, the forecast for bushels per acre is…… MORE
From USDA SPRINGFIELD – There were 6.2 days suitable for field work during the week ending August 08, 2021. Statewide, the average temperature was 72.3 degrees, 1.5 degrees below normal. Precipitation averaged 0.10 inches, 0.85 inches below normal. Topsoil moisture supply was rated 8 percent very short, 17 percent short, 70 percent adequate, and 5…… MORE
(USDA) SPRINGFIELD – There were 5.6 days suitable for field work during the week ending August 01, 2021. Statewide, the average temperature was 74.8 degrees, 0.4 degrees above normal. Precipitation averaged 0.89 inches, 0.13 inches above normal. Topsoil moisture supply was rated 3 percent very short, 14 percent short, 76 percent adequate, and 7 percent…… MORE
From USDA SPRINGFIELD – There were 5.7 days suitable for field work during the week ending July 25, 2021. Statewide, the average temperature was 76.5 degrees. Precipitation averaged 0.05 inches, 0.97 inches below normal. Topsoil moisture supply was rated 3 percent very short, 12 percent short, 77 percent adequate, and 8 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture…… MORE
From USDA There were 4.3 days suitable for field work during the week ending July 11, 2021. Statewide, the average temperature was 73.9 degrees, 2.2 degrees below normal. Precipitation averaged 1.35 inches, 0.54 inches above normal. Topsoil moisture supply was rated 5 percent very short, 16 percent short, 60 percent adequate, and 19 percent surplus.…… MORE
By USDA SPRINGFIELD – There were 3.6 days suitable for field work during the week ending June 27, 2021. Statewide, the average temperature was 71.0 degrees, 2.9 degrees below normal. Precipitation averaged 2.74 inches, 1.84 inches above normal. Topsoil moisture supply was rated 7 percent very short, 10 percent short, 51 percent adequate, and 32…… MORE
By USDA SPRINGFIELD – There were 6.1 days suitable for field work during the week ending June 20. Statewide, the average temperature was 75.2 degrees, 2.2 degrees above normal. Precipitation averaged 0.72 inches, 0.27 inches below normal. Topsoil moisture supply was rated 4 percent very short, 28 percent short, 64 percent adequate, and 4 percent…… MORE
By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …
By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…
By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…
Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…