September 11, 2024

From the Fields: Crops looking ‘phenomenal’

By Berkeley Boehne
Berkeley Boehne checks on the pigs in his feeder to finish barn on his farm in DeKalb County in north-central Illinois. He custom feeds hogs for local people on two sites that together have the capacity for 10,000 pigs.

Berkeley Boehne checks on the pigs in his feeder to finish barn on his farm in DeKalb County in north-central Illinois. He custom feeds hogs for local people on two sites that together have the capacity for 10,000 pigs. (AgriNews photo/Martha Blum)

I don’t know if we’ll have a record-breaker, but we should have phenomenal crops in DeKalb County. But we need to dry out for a while because if it keeps raining, it’s going to hurt our soybeans, especially the later planted soybeans.

Organic soybeans are really taking a hit with this wet weather since growers are not able to get some of the tillage done to stay ahead of the weed pressure.

We’re probably above-average rainfall for July in this area. Northern DeKalb County has had more rainfall and wind damage. There is no wind damage on crops here that we’ve found.

OrganicsScienceSoybeansWeather
Berkeley Boehne

Berkeley Boehne

Shabbona, Ill.