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Illinois farmer tries his hand at planting beans ahead of corn

A north central Illinois farmer planted beans ahead of corn for the first time this year.

Mike Wurmnest, who serves on the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, tells Brownfield after seeing other farmers’ corn that was planted at the same time as his beans, he is happy with his decision so far.

“That corn really struggled. Some of it was in the field for at least three weeks before it started to emerge so, I think the uniformity of the stand might not be quite what we would like for it to be.”

He says most farmers who plant beans first are looking for a yield advantage, but he does not expect one this year.

“April 20^th on is not that early, but they just didn’t do much so, I’m not sure about the yield increase but I’m expecting them to be in good shape as far as the population and the stand.”

He says they have received about 10 inches of rain in Deer Creek since planting began on April 20th and got hit by the late season freeze earlier this month. He has 130 acres of corn left to plant and expects to have to replant a little of both crops.