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Weather should allow Illinois farmers to begin planting by May

The state climatologist for Illinois says a long period of cool, wet weather should ease up next week opening a much-anticipated planting window for many farmers in the state.

“I would not be surprised to see most, if not all folks in their fields by May 1st.”

Trent Ford tells Brownfield the 7-day forecast still houses scattered rain across the state with soil temperatures lingering in the 40’s and 50’s, but the 8-to-14-day forecast looks dryer and warmer.

“It may not be a great week for field activity this week, but as we get closer to that May 1st date it does look like there will be some openings where the temperatures and lack of precipitation could open up some planting windows.”

Looking at the latter half of May, Ford says models are predicting normal to above average temperatures with average precipitation, which should hopefully minimize planting disruptions once farmers are able to get started.

Interview with Trent Ford

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