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Record rainfall slows soybean crop in Illinois and Iowa

Call it too much of a good thing in Monmouth, Illinois. “There’s not much you can do about it,” said Brian Mansfield, a research agronomist wi...

Call it too much of a good thing in Monmouth, Illinois.

"There's not much you can do about it," said Brian Mansfield, a research agronomist with the University of Illinois.

This soybean field is soaking in standing water during the wettest June in Illinois history.

"The younger the plants are, the worse the water is going to be for them," he said.

After rainfall averaging nearly nine inches in June, the stress is showing in a Rock Island County bean field.

"If we stay in a wet pattern, are we going to have harvest difficulties?" Mansfield pondered.

Too much rain slows planting while draining nutrients from fields.

It will also end the bumper crops across Illinois and Iowa.

"We're not going to have a record crop like last year," he said.

Yet, conditions are better at the University of Illinois Demonstration Farm in Monmouth.

"These aren't flowering yet," he continued.  "But they should be soon."

The next few days will be crucial for the crop.

There are insurance deadlines approaching.

Late planting produces fewer crops.  Yet, that could also drive up prices for farmers.

"This might be a  way to kind of help people out," Mansfield said.  "It could be a little bit of a silver lining."

Maybe a silver lining for these water-logged soybean plants in Monmouth.

The wet weather also slows field work, and the battle against crop diseases.

Farmers will learn more during the annual Field Day.

The free event runs from 8-12 on July 28 at the Research and Demonstration Center.  It's located at 321 210th Avenue in Monmouth.

 

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