PEORIA, Ill. — While it is far too early to predict Corn Belt crop harvest estimates for 2017, the crops in central Illinois and parts of the Midwest appear to be doing fairly well in spite of a host of early challenges.

 

Robert Godke, manager of the Tazewell County Farm Bureau in Pekin, Ill., says crops there look “exceptionally well” heading into July. Though farmers in certain areas of the county have been luckier than others regarding poor weather and replanting, others have had to scramble to catch up, he said.

“It is too early to predict any yields but the corn and soybeans look similar to last year at the same time. Last year was an exceptional year for both corn and soybeans in Tazewell County. (But) one must remember that a lot can happen between now and when the crops are in the bin,” Godke said.

An eastern Illinois grower, however, reported his 2017 corn crop is not nearly as robust as last year’s and will require a series of well-timed rain events for him to be able to harvest anywhere near the same bounty. “I would say about 30 percent of my corn is in the good-to-excellent category,” said Jeff Jarboe, a Loda farmer who serves on the Illinois Corn Growers Assoc. board of directors.

“The rest of it is fair. The reason I’m saying that is that there are a lot of thin spots and holes out there. A lot of people around here replanted early corn and some actually replanted whole fields. About a third to a half of the beans around here got put in early, in middle May, and most of those look pretty good. The later beans are looking kind of rough.”

Jarboe said he is expecting an “average” crop of beans and corn “if we just get rain.” Godke agreed timely rainfall will be needed in Tazewell County to bring crops there to full fruition, especially after July 4th. “Both corn and soybeans look to be about a week behind normal but if the ideal weather continues I anticipate that they should both catch up to a normal year,” he said.

Corn condition in Illinois (as of June 26) was rated at 2 percent very poor, 7 percent poor, 29 percent fair, 51 percent good and 11 percent excellent. Soybean condition was rated 2 percent very poor, 6 percent poor, 22 percent fair, 59 percent good and 11 percent excellent, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

These figures are slightly higher than those in other major crop-producing states in the Farm World readership area, including Ohio and Indiana, where progress and condition for both corn and soybeans lags behind.

In Indiana, the corn crop has been described as “ragged” in spots, with early-spring replants and spotty weather appearing to be the primary culprits.

Just 40 percent of the Indiana corn crop was rated good by NASS, with 5 percent rated very poor, 13 percent poor, 36 percent fair and 6 percent excellent. Soybeans

in the Hoosier State were rated 3 percent very poor, 10 percent poor, 36 percent fair, 44 percent good and 7 percent excellent.