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Rains continue to hamper southern Illinois planting

A southern Illinois farmer says recent rains are continuing to hamper planting progress in his area.

Kenneth Hartman, Jr., who farms in Monroe County, says it’s been a very difficult spring.

“We just finally finished our corn last week.”  He says, “We still got a few beans to plant. We’ve had numerous rains in May. I think we had record of 13 inches of rain in April. So, we’ve been very challenged.”

He tells Brownfield the crops that have emerged have struggled due to consistent cool and cloudy days.

“We just hope that it doesn’t just turn off and get hot and dry.”  He says, “We’ve been cool and wet here through the spring and we hope that we can keep that rain coming over the summer.”

Hartman, who’s also the current president of the National Corn Growers Association, says abundant moisture in the spring typically leads to shallow rooted plants, so a dry summer would further stress the crop.

AUDIO: Kenneth Hartman, Jr. – Illinois farmer