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Heavy rains flood southern Illinois fields, farmer says crop conditions vary

Weather woes have gone from one extreme to the other for a southern Illinois corn and soybean grower.

Steve Borcherding of Iuka in Marion County tells Brownfield they had a dry start to the summer and a week ago they were still in need of measurable rain.

“Unfortunately, we caught over 7 inches in our gauge since last Saturday. Consequently, our fields in the Skillet Fork Creek basin experienced severe flooding the last couple of days, wiping out some decent fields of corn and soybeans.”

He says the flooding mostly impacted river bottom fields, but corn crop conditions on higher ground vary based on rainfall.

” The early planted corn ran short of moisture during pollination, and we’re seeing some tip back ears throughout our fields. The later plantings of corn are faring much better in places, especially where they started catching rains three weeks ago. In those fields we could potentially see some nice yields this fall.”

As for soybeans he says, “They seem to be hanging in there and should benefit greatly from the latest rains in terms of existing pod fill. Double crop soybeans show a lot of potential in our area with a lot of nice looking stands.”

When it comes to yield expectations, Borcherding says the damage is already done on early planted corn, but timely rains the next two months could help the remainder of corn and soybeans.

Audio: Interview with Steve Borcherding

Photo Credit: Steve Borcherding