Illinois Farmers Delay Planting Crops Amid Wet Weather, Low Crop Prices, And Trade Uncertainty

[Sherman A1]

Floodwaters on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers may be going down, but rain has continued to soak farmland around much of the state. More rain could be on the way later this month.

Wet fields make it hard to plant because farmers use large, heavy machinery in the fields. Even if a field is dry enough for equipment not to get stuck, too much pressure on wet soil makes it hard for seedlings to develop solid root systems.

“Without good root development, there isn’t anything to feed the plant, and if we’re not feeding the plant, we don’t get much back in yields,” said Steve Fourez, a farmer in Vermillion County, Illinois.

Fourez, a board member for the Illinois Farm Bureau, said he has about 500 acres where he farms corn and soybeans. This time last year, he had it all planted. This year, it’s been too wet to even start.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/illinois-farmers-delay-planting-crops-amid-wet-weather-low-crop-prices-and-trade-uncertainty