Corn starting to silk in Illinois

By Ryne Turke on June 28, 2016 at 11:49am

Illinois farmers dealt with limited rainfall and hotter temperatures this past week.

Crop statistician Mark Schleusener recaps the latest corn and soybean numbers.

“Four percent of corn acres are silking, compared to one percent last year and six percent for the five year average. Ninety-four percent of soybean acres have emerged, compared to 89 percent a year ago and 93 percent normally,” says Schleusener.

Numbers from the West Southwest District show 16 percent of the corn crop is silking. As for local soybeans, 96 percent have emerged and 12 percent are blooming.

Seventy-one percent of both corn and soybeans are rated in good to excellent condition.

The local district received 6.5 days suitable for fieldwork, a day more than the state average.

Local topsoil was 19 percent very short, 30 percent short, 50 percent adequate and one percent surplus. Subsoil was 14 percent very short, 23 percent short, 62 percent adequate and one percent surplus.

Precipitation for the week totaled 0.24 inches in the West Southwest District, almost three-fourths of an inch lower than normal.

Temperatures were higher than average throughout the state. The local district averaged a temperature of just under 81 degrees, around six degrees hotter than normal.