101 degrees starting out. Driving Rt 40 south of I-80 to Peoria. My first stop was 1 mi west of Bradford where I saw the corn beginning to die off. Some only shoulder high and severe curling. Some fields completely gone.
South of Bradford to Peoria showed taller, mostly tasseled corn – more mature. Fields appear to have once had great potential but now in rapid decline.
Morton, IL - Same field that I looked at 2 weeks ago and noted that it was a “beautiful” field of corn is now tasseled and in jeopardy of making NO corn. 7’ tall at best.
This field was on Rt 136. Not much left here. Anything planted a week or two later seems to have no chance.
This is what I saw SE of Lincoln on Rt 121. Most fields have no chance of making corn. It is firing ½ way up the stalk or more, tops gray/white, short. Temp here is 103.
SOUTH OF MT PULASKI – What appears to be a good looking field of corn. Short. Ears on outside rows look ok. Fewer good ears inside. 14 potential ears in 1/1000 acre.
WSW OF DECATUR – S of Rt 36/I-72
One side of road appears to have no corn (above), other side (below) looks better however ears are small and few.
S of DECATUR - MT ZION
Corn looks good from the road. 6-7’ tall. The center photo represents the ear size off of 1/1000 acre. There were 12 of the small ears, 6 medium, 6 large (only by comparison) and 6 blanks in that sample.
S OF MT ZION – Hogan Rd & Rt 121
Tried to find a better field – this is what I found. Gathered all ears in 1/1000 acre. Ave ear 16x25 with approx. 46 blanks per ear.
30,000 stand = 118 bpa using 90,000 for a divider which is generous. This is before tip-back which seems inevitable.
SOUTH OF SULLIVAN – RT 32
A few fields look ok but once you step in to it you get a much different picture. Left picture shows corn on bean ground representative ears shown on bottom of center picture. These ears are showing zipper strips with an average ear 11-12 (odd # caused by zipper strips) x 20. Field on the right is corn on corn and ears from this field are shown on the top. Maybe no corn at all from this field – ears on the outside rows but none/few inside.
WINDSOR, IL – Looks like it should be damn good farm ground here - corn all but dead.
SOUTHERN SHELBY COUNTY – 4 WAY INTERSECTION 2900 E & 150 N
These ears represent 1/1000 acre. There were only 8 ears. And they were not good ones. Went into the fields on all 4 corners of this intersection which were 4 more fields out of many in the area that are probably not going to be combined.
5 miles east of 2900 E and 150 N in Shelby County - Apparently farmer started to chop corn and decided not to. No ears on any plants in this field.
All the way from 2900 E/150 N, north on I-57 to exit 229 to finally find a field that looks like it may make 150 bushels of corn. This stretch of good corn runs about 15 miles west of I-57 but I don’t think this band of good corn runs very far north to south.
After driving for 12 hours one starts thinking some fields are better than they actually are. Just seeing green makes you think it’s good. After getting out and looking at this field, I noticed that the nodes were stacked – which I had not seen anywhere else. This is yet another field where if you have a lot of optimism, it might even produce a harvestable ear.
Rt 51 South of Bloomington – County Rd Intersection 1450 E & 620 N
10 mi South of Bloomington on Rt 51
These fields are bad – you don’t have to take my word for it, you can just drive there.
NORTH OF TOWANDA, IL – I had no idea that the corn in this location would be this poor – I was shocked. This corn has very little to no potential to produce an ear on some very expensive farm ground.
SOUTH OF GRIDLEY, IL
Later planted field on one side of the road is under extreme stress and may have no chance of making any corn. Short, not tasseled.
Field on the other side of the road has tassels but no ears anywhere.
Later planted corn seems doomed as the roots never had a chance to make it to the rapidly declining soil moisture levels.
Miles and miles of corn fields that may not produce anything.
PHOTOS SHOT FROM ROAD IN LIVINGSTON COUNTY
5 MILES EAST OF MINONK, IL – Finally what appears to be 100+ bushel corn – a huge anomaly in this area. After walking into the field, I found the Japanese beetle population to be quite devastating. Outside rows had silks, none of the inside rows did. This was the only corn in a very big area that actually survived to tassel which is why I think all the beetles were in this field.
This is the second time I have traveled this route. The first time was two weeks ago and then again yesterday and today. The precipitous decline in crop conditions in that amount of time may be one for the history books. My ability to find poor corn in Illinois seems only limited by time and my ability to buy gasoline. I tried to be precise on where the fields were located so you can go check them yourself if there is some disbelief. I may not be able to give an exact number on some yields, but I am smart enough to figure out what 0 is.
I think people underestimate just how bad the corn really is.
James McCune