Weather slows harvest completion

Posted on November 6, 2018
Corn harvest is ahead of average while the soybean harvest is at a normal pace.
(United Soybean Board/Flickr)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Farmers are finishing up just in time for the first shot of winter weather.

State statistician Mark Schleusener of the USDA in Illinois says weather was not conducive to farming this past week.

“Fieldwork was pretty slow last week. It was cold and wet in Illinois,” he says. “Our temperatures ranged from slightly below normal in northern parts of the state to an average oft three degrees below normal in southern parts of Illinois. Rainfall totals ranged from 0.8 inches to nearly three inches. Overall, the state averaged 1.5 inches, and that’s more than 0.6 inches above normal for the week.”

Both corn and soybeans are past the 90 percent mark for harvest. Corn’s ahead of the pace, soybeans are even.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]. 

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