Beneficial rains and timely sun this Spring have allowed farmers to make great progress through the planting season. 

Reagen Tibbs, Commercial Ag Educator for the University of Illinois Extension in Logan, Menard, and Sangamon Counties, explains that corn and soybean progress reports are hovering around or are slightly ahead of the 5-year average of being 80-85% planted by this time of year. The same is true for emergence rates so far.  

Things have been dry over the last two weeks, leading Tibbs to believe a little rain over the next couple of weeks could go a long way for producers. He notes this is a typical challenge for farmers this time of year. 

Pest and disease control are also top of mind as more crops begin to emerge and producers transition to the growing season. Tibbs indicates that wetter conditions are more conducive to pests and disease, so pressures have not set up in a significant way quite yet. 

We'll hear more from Tibbs in the days ahead on the recently released crop budget and how producers can utilize those projections on their farm. In the meantime, learn more about the resources offered by the Extension at extension.illinois.edu/lms.