View from the Cab: Bring it on

Kent's field cultivator and tractor ready to head to the field last week.

By: Kent Casson

We are forced to make use of the decent weather days we get – which tend to be rare anymore.

It seems our part of Central Illinois has been receiving rain showers just about every other day but at least the sun still shines sometimes. You know what they say: you have to make hay while the sun shines. Or, in our case, you must be ready to go to the field at any moment to plant when the sun shines.

Last Tuesday was one of those days. A few growers were starting to put soybeans in the ground while others were spraying fields and some applied nitrogen to corn ground. It was a great day – especially since there was no wind and temperatures hovered in the low 50s under blue skies. This was the complete opposite of the previous day when highs hovered in the low 40s and snow flakes were flying.

Although none of our corn or soybean seeds are in the ground as of this writing, we did get out there and scratch a little dirt with the field cultivator the other day. The ground worked nicely and it’s amazing what a little sunshine and wind can do. Our planting equipment is pretty much good to go and we are as ready as we can be for the 2022 growing season.

I have a feeling May will be a busy month as both crops will be going into the ground at a rapid pace. Hard to believe we were all done with everything by early May last year. What a difference 365 days can make. I guess we better not make too many plans for Memorial Day weekend or even early June, since planting could drag on for a while.

There was hardly any planting progress to report in Illinois in the past couple of weeks but winter wheat is moving along. For the week ending April 17, winter wheat headed in the state reached 4 percent and that is even with the average. Winter wheat condition was rated 10 percent poor, 45 percent fair, 35 percent good and 10 percent excellent.

Topsoil moisture supply was 1 percent very short, 3 percent short, 40 percent adequate and 56 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture supply was 2 percent very short, 5 percent short, 54 percent adequate and 39 percent surplus.

The average temperature for the week ending April 17 was only 49 degrees, which is almost 3 degrees below normal and there were only 1.3 days suitable for fieldwork.