By Dave Dahl

Illinois crops are coming along – USDA state statistician Mark Schleusener says the progress is close to normal, but fantastic compared to the late, wet 2019.

“Compared to last year, which was so terrible,” Schleusener says, “it’s a very, very good start, but we are right about normal on corn, and we are ahead of normal progress on soybean planting. The cold snap last week – I don’t think that did that much damage to the crops. Many of the crops were not really emerged. If there were some soybean fields that were fully emerged, I think they would be very sensitive to that cold.”

22 percent of the state was too wet – topsoil moisture rated “surplus.” Corn and soybeans are, respectively, 68 and 43 percent planted and 23 and ten percent emerged. Average statewide temperature was almost fifty degrees, about ten degrees colder than normal. Precipitation was about three quarters of an inch, about two tenths below normal.