Harvest began for Ogle County farmers in mid-September, Ogle County Farm Bureau Manager Ron Kern said Sept. 25, 2025.

“There hasn’t been as much activity as I anticipated,” Kern said. “Crops may still be drying down. Part of the problem with beans is the heavy humidity each morning lately that makes the stems hard to cut and farmers have to wait until later in the day to harvest them. We started harvesting around a normal time.

“My neighbor planted the first field of beans in the county in the spring and picked them on Sept. 18. That was the first field of beans I’ve seen harvested. That makes sense.”

After dry conditions to start the year, Ogle County farmers saw a big rainfall in mid-June and rain continued to fall often until mid-to-late August. Since then, spotty rains and dry conditions have been seen, which Kern said has dried down crops well but doesn’t help with growing conditions for next year.

Unless a rainy week is seen, Kern said Ogle County farmers hope to have harvest wrapped up by Thanksgiving. He urged drivers in the county to exercise caution when they encounter farm equipment on roads when they’re moving from field to field.

“None of the farmers want to be on the roads,” Kern said. “They want to be in the fields. They’re trying to do their best to get where they’re going safely. It’s slow-moving equipment and sometimes folks are in a hurry. If everyone just slows down and takes their time, and understands that everyone wants to get home safe, we should be OK.

“If you get behind farm equipment, try to put yourself in their position and see what’s in front of the driver. There could be a guardrail or sign coming up that they’ll have to swing around. If you start to pass and they swing out, now that’s a problem. Sometimes they’ll wave you around when it’s safe. Just try to look at everything and pay attention.”

In 2024, Ogle County saw dry and windy conditions in the fall that set the stage for multiple field fires in the area, with one in Lindenwood burning nearly 100 acres. That could be a concern in 2025 if conditions remain dry in coming weeks.

“It only takes a little spark and enough wind and the next thing you know, it’s a full-fledged fire storm,” Kern said. “That’s always a concern. A lot of farmers will do their best to take precautions and keep engines clear of buildup. But things like a bad bearing can happen and spark a fire and the next thing you know a whole combine is gone and everything around it is going with it.”

Kern hopes the export market improves in the next two months for farmers in Ogle County and across the United States. South America has overtaken the U.S. as the top global exporter of soybeans and Kern is unsure where U.S. beans will end up. Corn exports remain strong, he said.

Farmers are also waiting on a new federal Farm Bill. The current Farm Bill, passed in 2018, has been extended for a year twice, most recently in December. The federal Farm Bill allocates funding for crop insurance, disaster assistance and conservation programs for farmers.

“The Farm Bill is always a big concern,” Kern said. “A lot of what farmers use today for risk management is predicated on what’s in the Farm Bill. I think the key to profitability is finding new domestic uses for our commodities, and not having to rely on the export market like we do. I preach that to everyone who will listen.

“It is the hope of everyone in the farming community that at some point this fall we get a new Farm Bill. If not, we’re just going to be operating on the same Farm Bill we have for years. It needs to be modernized and updated.”

With how the weather has been, Kern believes corn and bean yields in Ogle County will be a mixed bag when harvest is said and done. He believes bean yields will be average to below average due to dry weather early and late in the growing season, and that corn yields will be average to above average.

Ogle County farmers are in for long days of work in the next two months, Kern said.

“You will see tractors and combines in the fields at night,” Kern said. “Some farmers will put in 14- to 18-hour days and others will work 10-12 hours depending on their operations. It depends where and how grain is hauled and stored. We have a little bit of everything in Ogle County in terms of different farm operations.

“I hope everyone stays safe and keeps their chin up. There’s a silver lining in every cloud, and I hope we find ours in agriculture.”