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East central IL farmer ready for some rain

An east central Illinois farmer says they could use a rain.

“Corn is already back to curlin’.”

Dirk Rice, who’s based in Champaign County, tells Brownfield the June rains were spotty in his area.

“We do have one farm and it’s caught in the last week over at least 2 ½” and it’s soaked it up.”  He says, “There’s not a puddle anywhere.”

But he says most of his operation is dry, and it’s a concern.

“Our earliest planted corn, the tassels are just coming out good, so it’s gonna start pollinating here.”  He says, “You really don’t like to see moisture stress combined with heat stress when you’re trying to pollinate.”

Rice says he has less worries about his soybean crop handling the dry stretch. 

July forecasts for Illinois predict warmer than average temperatures along with average rainfall.

AUDIO: Dirk Rice – Champaign County, IL farmer

Photo: File photo