Rain Put A Damper On Northern Illinois Harvest

Northern Public Radio | By Guy Stephens

Published October 16, 2017 at 3:50 PM CDT

Fields of corn, top, and soybeans in northern Illinois are still waiting for harvest, which has been slowed by recent rains.

Farmers are busy bringing in their crops, but this weekend’s heavy rains put a damper on their progress.

Mariam Wassmann, Director of Information for the DeKalb County Farm Bureau, says farmers were making good headway.

“I’d say about half of the soybeans have been harvested to this point,” she said. “Corn, as far as we look at our field corn, we’re getting a real good start. We might have about 10 percent harvested.”

That was before between six and eight inches of rain fell in some areas of northern Illinois. Right now, fields are too muddy – or even flooded -- to work. But Wassmann says farmers hope to get back in their fields within in a few days.

“As I talk to our local farmers, they’re hoping to get out in the fields by Thursday, perhaps Friday at the latest,” she said. “So, hopefully later this week, we’ll see the combines rolling.”

She says the crops also need to be dry enough before they can be properly harvested and stored. She says plenty of sunshine is the remedy for that, as well.

Wassmann says predictions of a good harvest this year for both corn and soybeans still hold. As always, the weather will determine the final outcome.