Farm

More below-average temperatures were received across Illinois this past week, as field crops continue to develop behind the five-year average.
Conditions remain mostly good for all crops statewide.
Temperatures across the state averaged 72.2 degrees for the week, 1.5 degrees below normal.
There were 6.2 days suitable for fieldwork last week. Topsoil moisture across the state was rated as 4 percent very short, 35 percent short, 59 percent adequate and 2 percent surplus.

What a difference a year makes. This time last year, area farmers were watching their once-promising corn crop wither away to nearly nothing.
In 2013, it’s an entirely different story. And a much happier one.

In early July, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) simplified access to historic data by putting 77 years’ worth of agricultural statistics online.
In the past, this information, published in the annual bulletin Agricultural Statistics, was available in print form only.

Crops were growing at a steady pace last week and were looking good. However, more rain will be needed to continue this pattern in crop development.
The weather has been favorable for weeds and pests, so spraying was in full swing last week. Precipitation averaged 0.53 inches throughout the state, 0.27 inches below normal. Temperatures across the state averaged 74.9 degrees for the week, 1.5 degrees below normal.
There were 5.9 days suitable for fieldwork last week.