Tom is a co-owner of Leeper Family Farms LLC which in Decatur in Macon County. They raise corn, soybeans, wheat and hay. Tom farms with his son Evan Leeper and son-in-law Nate Doty. He has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural science from Illinois State University. He is a CCA and sells seed for Wyffels and Brevant. He also raises cattle for his freezer beef business.

Spring has sprung and the bell has rung for planting to begin for 2026. We started planting beans April 11 and managed five days of work until we received 0.7 of an inch of rain on Wednesday night. More beans are going in the ground than corn at this point. We switched a planter over to corn and got one field planted on Wednesday. We might have found a dry field by Friday afternoon, but with rain in the forecast and cool temps coming we caught our mowing up instead. We received 1.4 inches of rain Friday evening. It’s a waiting game now, but when dry weather returns planting will be in full swing. Strong winds have hampered spraying of herbicides. Enjoy the spring and be safe out there everyone!

This past week has had planters going full speed ahead with corn and beans. It’s been difficult getting many days when winds died down to make herbicide applications. In our area, more bean acres are in than corn. However, corn will get the focus now as we near May 1. Soil conditions have been excellent, and initial emergence shows great stands. Currently we are facing strong storm potential, which has kept planters in the shed until we see the outcome. Be safe, everyone!

This past week began with a significant rain event. Here at Decatur, we had 1.6 inches, but south of town it was over 3 inches. This, combined with cool temps, made for zero planting and slow crop growth. What has emerged has excellent stands. The weather looks to improve in the upcoming week, although some showers are in the forecast. My best estimate of progress is beans at 75% planted and corn at 50%. Those numbers will change quickly if the weather allows work to resume. It has been a very windy spring, which has hampered herbicide applications. Our wheat will get fungicide applied this week via drone. New technology continues to find its way to the farm!

Another week of mostly sitting as we continue on this weather roller coaster ride this spring. We were able to stick in some corn on May 4, but then showers arrived that evening, then on and off the rest of the week. Next week’s forecast shows good weather, so look for planting to ramp up then. Crops are growing slowly, but they clearly need some warm temps to get them going. Preemergence herbicides have worked well as they’ve been activated by the showers. We hope to wrap planting up this week if all goes well.

It was a busy week as the weather allowed us to play catch up with planting. Most of the rest of the corn and beans that needed to be planted went in the ground. We finished up this week and got started sidedressing some of our early-planted corn. There’s much to get done, but the weather looks rainy for a while. One way or another, it all gets done sometime.

It was a very slow week due to the rain we received on Monday. With our crop planted, we’ve turned our attention to catching our mowing up, preparing to sidedress nitrogen, and getting some hay made. It looks like the weatherman has cleared Memorial Day weekend and a few days thereafter, so I believe field work will be active again. Crops have benefited from some rainfall to help with emergence, but the general consensus is it’s time to get the crop completed. If the weather holds, most everything will be in the ground after this weekend.

We have moved into a drier weather pattern, at least temporarily. This has allowed us to make good progress with fieldwork. We have been sidedressing nitrogen, applying postemergence herbicides to corn and beans and making the first cutting of hay. This dry time will help crops to establish roots. At this point in the growing season crops look good and are starting to take off!

We continued our dry spell this week which allowed for more hay making, roadside mowing and post application spraying. I realize this is an opportunity for crops to root down, but we could use some rain. It is in the forecast, so we’re hoping to get a soaker at some point. Overall, crops look good through this area.

This week turned wet as we received a total of 3.2 inches of rain from three different rain events. We were fortunate not to have storm damage, although there were areas not far from us that did. With the wet weather came a lot of heat and humidity which has furthered crop growth. With the exception of some ponded areas, the crop prospects are very good. This has been reflected in the markets as we’ve seen a sell off lately. Our wheat is a couple of weeks away from harvesting, but it is turning fast. I expect a decent crop there as well.

This past week brought severe storms into our area. Besides heavy rainfall, some fields sustained hail damage, causing some extreme losses in some places. The advantage is that crops are at a stage where recovery can take place, but how much is unknown. We have received over 7 inches of rain in June with more in the forecast. This has played havoc with haymaking and post spraying of herbicides. We all know it takes a lot of faith to farm — this year is proving that point.

Conditions were favorable for good crop growth as we dried soils out a bit this past week. With rain in the forecast, we continue to let hay stand for a drier time. Early-planted soybeans were blooming by the summer solstice, which is a good sign for yield potential. Our hand-sampled wheat tested 19.9%, so we’re hoping with the hot temps predicted for next week that it will cut and we will get double-crop beans sowed. Many of the crops that received the extreme hail damage a week ago are being declared a total loss. Replanting may occur if the weather cooperates.

Hot, hot, hot has been the weather theme this past week. Add in the high humidity and it’s been miserable! Our concentration has been on harvesting wheat. We were successful in getting our wheat acres cut and the double-crop beans sowed prior to the rain event on Friday evening. Excellent yields despite sustaining 15% loss due to hail. We were fortunate to get the second post application of herbicide on our beans. They should have the rows shaded soon. We also had fungicide applied to our April-planted corn. We pulled the trigger a bit earlier than normal due to the damp conditions. We expect to apply a second application the first week of August. Our attention now turns to getting some hay made, weather permitting.

The weather this past week allowed us to catch up on hay making. It was less humid, which made for some really pretty hay. With the dry forecast we look to finish our second cutting this week. The abundant rainfall has led to excellent recovery of our hay fields. The wheat beans emerged in four days and benefited from some nice weekend rain of over an inch. More post spraying of herbicides on beans is taking place to combat the ever-present waterhemp that thrives under these conditions. And planes are flying on fungicide on corn and beans to try to stay ahead of leaf diseases that can infect plants with the moist conditions we’re experiencing. Summer is going way too fast!

Crops continue to flourish with warm and humid weather. It’s better for them than us by far! Most post spraying for weeds has wrapped up. I suspect late flushes of waterhemp will appear at some point. Application of fungicide has all but been completed as well. Haymaking continues to be a challenge with the weather pattern in place, as afternoon showers are a threat often. Roadsides are being mowed, and folks are taking a few days to get away for a much-needed rest.

This past week was filled with road mowing and field border spraying. Crops are looking good in our area, with the exception of drowned-out areas from previous heavy rainfall. Disease pressure has been minimal at this point. This will have to be monitored closely going forward, as some leaf diseases have been identified. Corn and bean prices have rallied lately, and we hope to see this trend continue.