News

Illinois farmer says corn and soybean planting is off to a good start

Planting picked up steam across the Corn Belt this week and Illinois farmer Grant Strom says field conditions have been better than average.  “We started to see the first planters really roll on Monday,” he says.  “We were planting some soybeans on Monday and started corn on Tuesday.  We’ll probably continue through Friday and it looks like we’re supposed to get some weather this weekend, but will dry up for next week.”

He tells Brownfield with the relatively mild winter in Illinois and the quick warm-up this spring timely herbicide applications are a necessity. “The weed germination and growth is definitely earlier than normal,” he says. 

Strom says insect pressure could be a problem this year.  “I think the most frost we had was maybe 8 inches this winter,” he says.  “That only lasted about a week right ahead of Christmas.  Usually, I like to see a couple of feet of frost down in the soil to not only break the ground up but also kill some of those pests.”

Strom raises corn and soybeans in Knox County, Illinois, about 40 miles west of Peoria.   

AUDIO: Grant Strom, Illinois planting update