(The Center Square) – As the drought continues in Illinois and the highest temperatures so far this year looming, there are concerns about crop conditions.
With temperatures hitting the 100 degree mark and no rain in the foreseeable future in parts of the state, crop conditions could deteriorate.
“It’s not really well timed with crop conditions. We definitely want to see more consistent rain in late July and early August for both corn and beans as well as a lot of our vegetable and fruit crops,” said Trent Ford, Illinois State Climatologist.
Last week’s U.S. Drought Monitor showed 55% of the country’s corn crop and 50% of U.S. soybeans are covered in drought.
Mark Schleusener, Illinois State Statistician with the United States Department of Agriculture, said the condition of soybeans actually improved over the past week. Thirty-seven percent of farmers reported their soybeans to be in good condition, 34% reported their crop to be in fair condition and 17% reported their beans to be in poor condition.
“The condition of the Illinois corn crop also improved and was rated 22% very poor to poor, 33% fair and 45% good to excellent,” said Schleusener.
Eric Snodgrass, principal atmospheric scientist with Nutrien Ag Solutions, told Ag Web the high temperatures could affect corn yields in some areas.
“Will there be storms that blow up in the middle of this and bring some cooler weather? That’s a possibility,” he said. “There’s going to be winners out of this, and there’s going to be a larger area that’s going to see some crop damage.”
Illinois is second in the nation in corn production, and first in soybean production.
