News

Crops are in – but they need some heat

An agronomist says planting progress in the western part of Illinois is the opposite of what it usually is this time of year.

Brent Titus is with UPL.  “Northwestern Illinois is nearly 100 percent planted,” he says.  “We get around the Quad Cities and their halo almost everything is in.  But as we move south, the weather has caused guys to not be able to go as much.  We think about starting (to plant) and we think about starting in southwest Illinois and moving north and this year is just the opposite of that.”

He tells Brownfield corn that was planted in early April is up – but it’s not pretty.  “You can row it, but it is not a great color,” he says.  “We need some heat.  It looks like it’s coming, and I definitely think that will improve the quality of what we’re seeing out in the field.”

Titus says some of the early-planted soybeans were nipped by last week’s cold snap and those fields will need to be replanted.

AUDIO: Brent Titus, UPL