Joe Stuckel and his wife Amber, along with their six young children, farm near Buckley in Iroquois County. They are first generation farmers, growing corn and soybeans. They also raise cattle marketed as freezer beef. In addition to farming, Stuckel has a seed business and does some custom seeding of cover crops. They have utilized cover crops and strip-till/no-till since they began farming seven years ago.

Not much activity this week as 1 to 2 inches of rain fell on Monday. Some field work and planting resumed Friday and Saturday. Corn and beans that were planted in the second week of April have emerged with good stands. Some emerged corn looks pale but should recover nicely if we get some sun and warmth.

Slow but steady progress this week with several interruptions for light rains. Emerged crops still look pale with the cool and sometimes cloudy conditions. Terminating cover crops has been a challenge due to cool temperatures. Lord willing, we will finish planting early this coming week.

Finally got some warm weather to finish up planting. We finished up midweek, and I would say most others in our immediate area are finished as well. We are evaluating frost damage on soybeans from May 7 and finding some thin stands in small areas. Windy conditions continue to make opportunities to spray hard to find.

Four-tenths of rain at the beginning of the week slowed down field work, but planting is complete for the most part. Sidedress nitrogen is picking back up at the end of the week. We did have to spot in a few acres of early-planted beans from the frost event on May 7. Overall crops are developing nicely and benefiting from the warmer temperatures. Happy Memorial Day to all! We are very blessed to enjoy many freedoms in this country.

We've had warmer and sunny weather this week, and the corn and beans are making the most of it. The corn is maybe a little smaller than this time last year, but stands are very good. Almost all fields in the area are emerged at this point. Conditions have been great for herbicide spraying and applying nitrogen. The children are out of school for the summer. We are very thankful for a good start to the season.

Another dry week with good growing conditions. We finished post spraying corn and side dressing. We started post spraying some beans. We received 1.7 inches of very welcome rain from two separate storms that came through on Saturday. It all soaked in nicely. Just a few miles south they only got a tenth. Starting to notice a few corn fields with uneven growth, but the vast majority look excellent.

What a change a week can bring. What started as a very welcome seven-tenths on the morning of Saturday, June 6, has turned into 6 to 8 inches of rain across our area in less than a week. The first 4 inches went into the ground very well but 2-inches-plus on Thursday night into Friday morning has put low areas of fields underwater. Hopefully the ditches can drain fast enough to empty the ponds before we lose the corn and beans growing there. No opportunities for field work this week. Thankfully we were fairly caught up with post spraying before the rains. Overall I'd say we are still in pretty good shape and thankful for the moisture.

More rain this week continues to make post herbicide applications a challenge. Crops look good where drainage is adequate, but there are large ponds where crops are dead or damaged. We are getting to the point where we may not be able to replant areas that have died. Wheat in the area looks to be getting close to harvest, but wet field conditions will be a challenge.

Finally a break from the rain this week with very sunny, hot and humid weather. Corn and beans in well-drained areas are dark green and growing fast, but damage from saturated soils is still very much in evidence in the low-lying areas. Finally have an opportunity to finish post spraying beans. We will find out if it is possible to kill 12-inch-plus waterhemp. Towards the end of the week we replanted beans in the drowned-out areas. Wheat harvest has started in the area with reports of good yield and quality. We received three-tenths of rain on Friday night and Saturday morning. Happy birthday, America! 250 look good on you!

Another warm week with scattered rain showers. Soybeans replanted in ponds are emerging. Last week's excellent conditions for glufosinate were a blessing, as it appears waterhemp is dying even though many were 2 feet tall due to rain delays. Some commercial applicators are still trying to catch up on overdue herbicide applications. Most soybeans are flowering, with some setting pods. A few early-planted corn fields are pollinating. Water-damaged areas in corn and beans are still evident but looking much better after this week's heat and sun. Wheat harvest and double crop bean planting are complete in the area. Mixed reports on yield, but I didn't hear many significant quality issues. Fungicide applications were just getting started at the end of the week.

A very hot and dry week, although there were scattered showers and thunderstorms around the area. We were gone for the week, and when we got home the corn and beans have grown a lot with most corn fields tasseling. I would say the crops look as well as they have since early June when we started getting excessive rainfall. Fungicide applications should start in earnest this coming week.

Another dry week but much cooler and less humid. Water damage is still evident in spots, but otherwise the crops look good. Lots of fungicide applications have happened this past week.

This week started out dry again, but we were blessed with a very welcome 3.9 inches Friday night through Saturday night. Most of the area received over 2 inches. Crops look good. We'll know more in a week or so once we can get better idea of how pollination/early grain fill went for the corn.

Very wet this past week, with over 5 inches of rain on Friday and Saturday. That puts us close to 10 inches for August so far. Kernel counts on corn look good but not as good as last year. Also, there is more water damage in the low areas than last year. On the plus side there is very little visible disease. Beans look good and should have plenty of moisture to finish.

Another beautiful August week. Plenty of moisture from the past weekend’s storms and three-tenths on Wednesday night. The good weather conditions we had for Liberty applications in late June has made walking beans easier this year, even though the weeds were a little taller than we would have liked when we were able to spray. Corn looks good, though it is very common to see some tip back. Sixteen around by 30-35 long ears are typical. Kernel depth and weight will be a big factor as always. No beans turning yet, but they look like they will be good. I’m thankful for how things look in spite of some of the challenges this year.

Crops continue to move along. There is some premature death in soybeans where there was water damage early in the season. As a generalization, most of the April-planted corn has black-layered and the May-planted corn will be in another week. There could be a few corn fields harvested in the next couple weeks in the area. Looks like corn will be decent for us this year but most likely less than last year’s spectacular yields. Beans could go either way.

The corn is starting to change color, and May-planted is just about to black layer. Some soybean fields started to turn this week. We were very wet in early August but can find some cracks in the ground again now.

We got three-tenths of rain Thursday morning (Sept. 10). Soybeans are changing fast. Some guys are starting on April-planted corn with moisture in the mid-20s. Most people, including us, have not started yet. We possibly have some beans that would go later this coming week, but I'm guessing it will be Monday.