La Salle County crop and rainfall report: Crops off to good start

The summer crop and rainfall report, which features crop condition and rainfall updates from La Salle County farmers, is published regularly during the growing season. The following report covers June 6-12 and is provided with assistance from the La Salle County Farm Bureau.

David Hall, Serena: Here we are for another year of reporting on crop progress in La Salle County. Thank you to Shaw Media for publishing these, and I hope everyone enjoys reading them. I farm with my dad and brother on our 165-year-old family ground north of Ottawa. We raise corn, soybeans and a crop of children who want to farm when they grow up.

It has been an interesting start to the year, for sure. Cold temperatures and rainfall caused planting delays in late April and early May. Planting progressed quickly once temperatures warmed up, and in two to three weeks almost everything in the area was planted. Our corn is 8 to 12inches tall and growing inches by the day in this current 90-plus degree weather. Soybeans are anywhere from 1 to 6 inches tall and looking healthy.

Area activities for the past week included mowing ditches, applying post-emergence herbicide to the corn and side-dressing nitrogen fertilizer on the corn. Equipment repairs and preventative maintenance is also taking place, and it is quite frustrating to find out typically common parts are not available for weeks or months. That just seems to be the world we live in now. Rainfall for the reporting week was 1.6 inches. Have a safe week!

Ken Beck, Mendota: It was a good week in Northwestern La Salle County. Planters were tucked away for the first time. Maybe some replanting will have to happen in soybeans. A lot of sprayers came out of the sheds and got going. I have seen a lot of sprayers out. Side-dressing was started. We had 2 inches of rain, so that kind of slowed everything down, but it was a welcome rain.

David Myer, Marseilles: 2022 will be the most expensive crop I have ever planted, but thankfully so far I’ve been able to get the products I need. However, harvest maybe another story – time will tell. Rainfall past week was 0.5 inch plus many scattered showers over the weekend. Corn looks good, and I am presently applying nitrogen for my fields. Post-spraying also is getting done for a final pass on the corn acres. Soybeans are doing well. Planting dates ran from early May through late May, so we’ll see which turns out best at harvest. The hay is being cut and baked. I’m finishing up the first cutting and hoping for some recharge moisture after this extreme heat breaks, but this is great now for the crops. It helps put roots down on the corn. The wheat looks very good and there is little disease pressure, so hopefully high-quality wheat will be harvested in early July.

Bill Gray, Tonica/Lostant: Hi, our farm operation is located in the southwest part of La Salle County near Tonica. I raise corn and soybeans with help from my wife Tina and my sons. I’ve been a member of the Tonica Volunteer Fire Department for 33 years and an EMT for 27 years.

Last week I received 2.3 inches of rain. It’s been another interesting spring this year to get crops planted. It seemed to take forever for the ground to warm up and dry out. The corn in my area has been planted and has emerged. There is a quite a bit of variance in height depending on when it was planted. Many fields of corn are having post-emergence herbicide applied.

Soybeans were planted at different times this spring and the amount of growth varies from 6 inches tall to just now emerging.

Some fields of hay are being cut and baled in the area. With recent rains and warm temperatures, it should be pretty good.

I’ve finally had a chance to get some of my garden planted, and it appears that I will have to put a fence up around it because the rabbit population has exploded. I’ve noticed most of the does in my trail camera photos no longer have their big bellies, meaning that fawns are being born.

Congratulations to all the recent graduates! Have a good week and be safe!

Ken Bernard, Grand Ridge: Welcome to the first crop watchers report for 2022! To start off, I farm in the Grand Ridge area with my son James, and my parents also are involved with our family farm here in Farm Ridge Township. We raise corn, soybeans and hay along with a small purebred hereford cow calf operation. To start the year off, April was cold and wet, which did not allow for planting to get started at a normal pace. It was a struggle to get crops in the ground, of which we had to replant some of the first soybeans we had planted in late April. When we started planting corn, it came up nicely. The later beans emerged better than the early ones. Planting was completed at the end of May. First-crop hay has been cut and hopefully will be baled when this is published. Corn spraying is almost complete and bean spraying is underway. Also, side-dressing of nitrogen on the corn is complete. We received 2.1 inches of rain last week, which is most welcomed since this week is way hotter than normal. Hopefully we will receive some timely rains in the coming days to keep this crop going. That is all I have for this report. Everyone have a good Father’s Day weekend and stay cool and hydrated.

Geoffrey Janssen, Rutland: Hello, I live in the very southern tip of La Salle County. I operate a corn and soybean farming operation with my family. Crops look good at this point. We have received adequate moisture in the last few weeks. I did receive right at 1.1 inches of rain in the last seven days with the warm temperatures, and the adequate moisture crops are responding nicely. Corn has a deep dark color; earliest planted corn is starting to shade the row and grow rapidly. Soybeans are growing nicely and seem to be changing daily.

Rainfall totals (in inches):

• David Hall 1.6
• Ken Beck 2
• David Myer 0.5
• Bill Gray 2.3
• Ken Bernard 2.1
• Geoffrey Janssen 1.1