Growers reflect on wheat harvest, short crops
PONTIAC – Those local farmers finishing up wheat harvest most likely have a smile on their face.
That’s because we have received timely rains in the past several days to help other crops such as corn and soybeans. Livingston County dairy farmer Don Mackinson was baling wheat straw earlier this week and hopes to start his third cutting of alfalfa.
“We’d like to put some sorghum in behind the wheat ground as there is a shortage of feed so far this year,” Mackinson told The Central Illinois Farm Network.
Mackinson admits the first and second hay cuttings weren’t very good but the alfalfa is really coming along after the recent rains. Silage corn will take extra acres this year since the corn doesn’t have its usual height.
“Our silage corn is really short,” noted Mackinson. “We didn’t plant it real early but it’s still stunted.”
On average, the Mackinsons chop 100 acres and will probably do 150 the way it looks so far.
Ford County update:
Randy Aberle who farms near Gibson City and Melvin in Ford County is finishing his wheat harvest this week. He received another 6 to 9 tenths of rain over the weekend.
“We are sitting in pretty good shape,” said Aberle.
Things out in Aberle’s fields look much better than a few weeks ago as crops have perked up, plants are a healthy green and it is almost time to pull the lawnmowers back out. Aberle feels most of the yield potential is still there for soybeans.
“Everything is just really short. It will be interesting to see what the corn ears look like.”
Aberle operates Integrated Precision, offering a number of products related to the planter.
