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Central Illinois farmer happy with start of harvest

A central Illinois farmer has wrapped up his second day of soybean harvest.

Dan Meyer of Tuscola says weather made for a roller coaster growing season with 5 weeks of drought during key growth stages.

“I’m really pleased so far. Here in Douglas County, we do have some very nice black soils that hold moisture and I think that really was a huge blessing this year and got us through that bad period.”

He says they did get some rain over the weekend, but the generally dry weather has him taking extra precautions against field and equipment fires.

“I bought what they call a water cannon and have it mounted by my fire extinguisher on the combine.  Plus, we always keep a tractor hooked to a disc. This time of year, if you see a white cloud, it just makes your heart pound because you know it’s not good.”

All of Meyer’s beans are harvested for seed and he is hoping to complete soybean harvest within 2-3 weeks before switching to corn.

Brownfield’s Rhiannon Branch interviewed Meyer from his combine cab on Tuesday.