With harvest still anywhere from a few days to a few weeks away based on an operation’s Illinois location, talk has turned to the possible adverse effects of an elongated, late-season period of chilly temperatures and wet conditions that have prevailed over parts of the state.

In central Illinois, Peoria County Farm Bureau Manager Patrick Kirchhofer said on Sept. 11 that area farmers’ harvests will likely have to wait at least a couple of more weeks due to rains and cool weather.

"Maturity of the crops has been on a slow pace, (though) corn yields are expected to be at record or near-record levels," he predicted. "There are some fields that have areas where soil saturation earlier in the year will limit the corn plants’ full yield potential."

Across the Illinois River from Kirchhofer in eastern Marshall County, Bob Fecht farms several properties in the Toluca area. Fecht said his corn is looking good overall, but is not without issues.

"Some of the corn had some tip-back, but with the rain we’ve received, kernels have been filling in nicely. We’ve recently had some disease starting in corn plants. Some root tippage from late-June wind and rains now shows stalk rot. Standability has been an issue, and yields will be varied depending on hybrids used and location," said Fecht, who serves as president of the Marshall-Putnam County Farm Bureau.

The recent rains that fell on his cropland has meant most of his soybean plants have begun to fill their pods. But that progress has also come at a cost to a percentage of his acreage.

"Soybeans are starting to show some disease pressure, whether it be white mold or other diseases such as brown stem rot," possibly from excess moisture, Fecht said. "The beans are maturing slowly but I am expecting a good crop."

The NASS Illinois Crop Progress and Condition report of Sept. 8 noted cases of sudden death syndrome (SDS) in soybeans were reported in some parts of Illinois. Kirchhofer reported the disease has found its way into some Peoria County bean fields.

"The soybean harvest will be excellent with record or near-record yields," he said. "With that said, SDS has surfaced in some soybean fields in the past couple of weeks, which will nip the full yield potential of infected fields."

USDA’s Illinois report showed that statewide, corn dented reached 84 percent, compared with the five-year average of 78 percent; however, mature corn was estimated at 17 percent, well below the five-year marker of 36 percent. Corn condition is rated at 82 percent good or excellent.

Soybean condition was rated at 78 percent good or excellent, with 7 percent dropping leaves, below the five-year average of 11 percent, according to NASS.