Page 4 October 27, 2015
2015 Logan County Farm Outlook Magazine
LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.COM
John Fulton
County Extension
Director
Serving Logan,
Menard, and
Sangamon
Counties
University of
Illinois Extension
700 South Airport
Drive
Springfield, IL
62707
.
extension.illinois.
edu/lms/
fultonj@illinois.
edu
phone
217.782.4617 fax
217.524.6662
Harvest 2015
Continued
A
nother rollercoaster ride cropping season is about
wrapped up in the central Illinois area. Harvest has
reached the level of “virtually complete” by mid-October.
Low precipitation levels and warm fall conditions caused
rapid declines in crop moisture levels, which created the only
real sense of urgency in harvest for many producers. A large
number of acres were harvested below moisture thresholds
of 15% for corn and 13% for soybeans. Yield levels were all
over the board, even within fields. My general comment for
the year on the yields, particularly on the corn side, is “better
than I thought, but not what I hoped for.”
Reported yields for corn have been from 0 to 240 bushels per acre.
Some producers experienced a similar range in the same field. Water
was the main culprit in many low producing fields. Some were
drowned out, while others struggled through the spring and early
summer with saturated field conditions. The northwestern and northern
parts of Logan County, in particular, were affected by field flooding,
and the resulting lower yields. Creek system bottomland fields were
also impacted greatly. Reported yields for soybeans have been from
0 to 84 bushels per acre. The same scenarios existed for soybeans as
mentioned for corn.
Well drained fields, particularly those higher than surrounding fields
were the best for both crops. The variability makes it difficult to
estimate yields on a county-wide basis, but best guesses for corn would
