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Much of the hope rests with a healing rain in June that played a
heavy role in saving the crop from ruin, said Steve Turner, a
member of the Illinois Farm Bureau and a farmer in Cass and
Morgan counties.
“I think it’s not going to be a bumper or a record yield but I
think we’re going to be basically holding our own,” Turner told
The Center Square.
The dry conditions that hit parts of the state won’t be much of
a challenge now that harvest time is here and expected to
continue until October or November. It may even help farmers to
get their work done, Turner said, noting that farmers are known
for finding the silver lining.
Unlike areas to the west where a lack of rainfall is taking a
toll, Illinois was spared the full brunt of arid weather, he
said.
“I think we really dodged a bullet on a lot of extreme drought
this year,” Turner said.
The status of the harvest currently puts farmers on par with the
five-year average. Turner helped to put the corn harvest figures
into perspective.
“The Illinois yield will probably be down from what it was last
year,” he said.
He estimated that the Illinois corn yield was over 200 bushels
on an acre last year. Even if it drops to 188 he said farmers
are still raising the crop.
The same could not be said for 2012 when drought conditions did
spell disaster for the harvest.
“I got to go back to 2012 where we did have no rain all summer,”
Turner said. “We’re not looking anything like that.”
Meanwhile, the condition of the corn is considered variable and
includes some reduced yields.
In other harvest news, Turner said the state is a few weeks away
from the start of the soybean harvest and farmers are again
expecting reduced yields.
Additionally, the alfalfa hay harvest has been reduced due to
the shortage of rainfall, but the government allowed livestock
managers access to conservation areas to care for their herds
now and in preparation for winter, according to Turner.
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