Extreme summer weather affecting Illinois crops

PEORIA — The extreme weather Illinois experienced this summer, from inches and inches of rain to blistering high temperatures, has affected crop yields, agriculture experts said.

Emerson Nafziger, crop production specialist at the University of Illinois, said the crop yield will vary widely across Illinois because the weather varied so much, with northwestern Illinois getting 19 inches of rain and central Illinois remaining dry, the Journal Star in Peoria reported in a story published Tuesday.

The July heat wave brought three days with temperatures of more than 100 degrees to Urbana for the first time since 1995, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures were 90 degrees or above for 14 straight days in Springfield and the Chicago-area recorded its wettest July on record. Northern and southern Illinois saw heavy rains during July, while it was exceptionally dry in central Illinois, according to the Illinois State Water Survey, which tracks weather data in the state.

Franklin County Farm Bureau manager Larry Miller said the weather has helped the corn crop in the state's south, and that it should be a healthy season.

"I don't think that it's a bumper crop, but I do think it's probably an above-average crop," he told The Southern Illinoisan in Carbondale.

Further north, in Peoria County, the corn yield is forecast to be 150 to 180 bushels an acre, matching or exceeding the forecast national average of 150 bushels an acre. But the county's farm bureau manager Patrick Kirchhofer said July's high temperatures took a toll on the corn crop.

"We've had a reduction in yield. Now we're fighting for kernel size," Kirchhofer said.

Dry weather hurt corn farmers in Woodford County, farm bureau director Jolene Jameson said.

"Corn yields will be down from last year. We've got a lot of ears that are not completed. July was just too hot and dry," she said.

Late-planted corn and soybeans still need rain and cooler weather to be successful, Union County farmer Mark Eddleman said.

"This time of year with 100 degree temperatures, you can pretty well use about an inch every week," he said.

Tazewell County Farm Bureau manager Doug Godke also said soybeans will need good weather in August.

"The beans look pretty good," Godke said. "They're reaching the blossom stage although some fields show signs of stress from the heat and dryness."

The rains and hot weather have combined to create a juicy, sweet peach crop, said Ren Sirles of Rendleman Orchards in Alto Pass.