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Flooded fields mirror 2019 for Illinois River farmer

Braden Thomas’ fields in May 2019

An Illinois River bottom farmer says excessive rain and flooding has him way behind on planting.

Brownfield spoke to Braden Thomas of Tazewell County one year ago about flooded fields and when we spoke again on Wednesday, he said…

“If I had a mirror, I could look into it with a different date at the top and it would look the same. We’re basically in the same situation we were last year. We get where we are within 12 hours of being able to do something and then we get a half inch of rain.”

Thomas says the river is about 1.5 feet lower than last year but that hasn’t improved matters much considering he is only 10% done with planting.

“The (USDA) report came out last week saying that corn was 80% planted and beans were 50 or 60%. I’m nowhere close to that. The beans I’ve got planted I will have to redo and the corn I’ve got planted I will have to redo about half of it.”

He says he needs to decide if he should take prevent plant by June 5th, but like other farmers in his area he is more hesitant to go that route two years in a row.

Interview with Braden Thomas

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