Southern Illinois Crop Tour

Pope County Pasture

 We took a trip to the real southern Illinois the past 2 days.  Went south on 127 to Murphysboro and then did a little wine tour.   We continued to Metropolis. Grass looked almost as dry as the Dallas area looked last summer in some places.  There was a little green in other places.  I have not heard that haying and grazing is being allowed on CRP land, but that should be coming soon. 

South of Centralia

The corn looks anywhere from not great to really terrible.  Today we made a  return trip along the ohio River thru Golconda, Elizabethtown, Garden of the Gods, Shawneetown and Carmi.  I took lots of pictures of drought stressed corn, but the worst of it was closer to home than I expected between Bell Rive and Centrailia.   I did not realize how much irrigation there is in northern Gallatin and White Counties.  That will pay off well this year.  You could see just how far the irrigation water went.  I was looking for a photo opportunity but did not get one. I saw corn that will not make anything and some that will need to be harvested to determine crop insurance payments.  This year shows some really good examples about why we need crop insurance. 

Soybeans look to be hanging there, but will be aborting blooms for now.  This article on soybeans originating with Iowa State University gives you some idea about how they handle drought.