Luke Burling farms east of Carthage, growing corn, soybeans and hay alongside a cow/calf operation. The farm also consists of his dad and uncle. He and his wife Kortney have four children, Annie, 11, Brooks, 8, Ry, 3, and Ronnie, 10 months. Burling helps coach the Illini West Charger baseball team with his younger brother Zack. When not busy coaching or in the field, you can usually find him at one of his kids’ sporting events or watching a Cubs game.

Planting progress was good for the farmers in southern Hancock and Adams County. If you go north of Carthage is where there isn’t a lot done because of wet conditions. Planters will look to get back rolling early this week depending on rain chances. Early planted crops started to emerge over the cool weekend. We have had a good start on beans but have yet to plant any corn. Good or bad decision? I guess time will tell.

Progress was slowed after rains during the weekend. Guys in the northern part of the county got back in the field Wednesday, but we have received 5-plus inches of rain since that Friday, which will likely have negative effects on stuff planted the last few days. Not a lot will get done this week besides trenching water and unplugging dry dams. Early-planted crops are starting to emerge and will have good temps during this week.

Not a lot has happened this week due to the excess moisture we received over the weekend. Early-planted crops look pretty good from the road. The later-planted stuff is struggling, and there is quite a bit of uneven emergence. The weather is looking like we will have window later in the week. A lot of cattle went to pasture over the last week. We moved grain, sold feeder calves and caught up on the honey-do’s!

Planters got rolling again on Wednesday/Thursday of last week in the northern part of the area. Southern Hancock was fit Saturday/Sunday. We look to finish beans and get a good chunk of our corn done if rains hold out this week. Early corn looks pretty good, with a few drowned-out spots, but for the most part it looks OK.

Last weekend we were able to get a good chunk of our crop planted. Some acres around were torn up and replanted. Some wet holes got spotted in. Most guys were able to find dry dirt Friday and Saturday after showers Monday evening and Tuesday. We look to finish up both crops Monday or Tuesday morning (May 20 and 21) before rains enter the picture again.

We were able to finish planting Monday evening for both crops. A lot of guys were able to finish this week and even do some replant if needed. Hopefully the rains come easy over the weekend and don’t drown out the wet holes again.

Planting and replanting are done for most of the area. The focus switches to side dressing and get second-pass spray down. We mowed a little bit of hay last week. Our corn looks very good but small, and our early beans look OK.

Crops are progressing nicely in our area. I would say 100% of acres have been planted and replanted if need. Early-planted crops look just a little uneven in spots. The corn planted Mother’s Day weekend is looking very good. We spent last week getting first cutting hay up along with hauling some June contracts to the elevator.

Crops continue to progress nicely. We are in pretty decent shape but will need a rain sometime this week to keep them in good condition. Most everything has been side dressed and sprayed with second-pass herbicide, so now it’s up to Mother Nature to get us to tassel and fungicide.

It is very dry in our area. The rains forecasted for Saturday night were a dud for us. The later-planted crops could really use a drink to shoot it into second gear. Everything has really seemed to slow down because of the drought stress. The early-planted corn has started to throw tassels and look pretty decent. Weather forecasts look like we have a little relief coming mid- to late-week. I will believe it when I see mud on my boots!

Rain was a dud over the weekend for us in central Hancock County. With projections in the three-fourths to 1-inch range, we only received a quarter inch. Airplanes were buzzing around this weekend applying fungicide to the early-planted corn. Stuff still looks pretty good, all things considered.

We received anywhere from 2-5 inches of rain in our area over the last seven days. It was very welcome and came great. Early corn is fully tasseled, and the later corn is getting very close. Soybeans are progressing nicely. Not a lot of insect or disease pressure on anything yet, but I’m sure it will show up soon.

Crops are looking very good, and the rains we received over the last 10-14 days have helped tremendously. All of our corn is tasseled, and we should be wrapped up with fungicide on corn and beans by the end of the week. I haven’t looked at any ears yet, but from the road it looks like we have some potential.

Crops are progressing nicely. We have received around 1.5 inches of rain on about every farm the last week, with some receiving 2.5-plus. Potential is definitely there, as long as we can hold any disease and/or insects back.

Crops got a good boost this past week with plenty of moisture! They received anywhere from 3-6 inches of rain. Corn has some great potential and beans are starting to look very good in our area. We are starting to get harvest equipment ready this week and take advantage of the cooler weather.

Crops are looking very good with a lot of potential in western Illinois. This cool weather has come at a perfect time as the corn is R4-R5 range. Beans are beginning to fill pods. We have another chance of rain at the end of the week. I have seen some disease starting to pop up though in some corn and bean fields that could hurt top-end yield if not handled.

Crops are progressing nicely. Most of our corn is beginning to dent and has pretty good potential. I have seen aphids and some disease starting to pop up in the upper canopy. Beans look great but seeing some SDS and other diseases starting to fire up. Still a ways to go before combines to start rolling.

Silage choppers got rolling last week on a few guys in our area. Our silage corn will probably need to be cut next week as the May corn nears black layer. April corn will probably black layer this week. April-planted beans are starting to turn. I could see a few guys, including us, cut beans before we shell corn. It is going to be very hot and dry this week. Things will look very different come this weekend after the weather this week.

Harvest has slowly begun in our area and will continue to ramp up over the next week. We are eye balling next week before we even think of starting. Early yield reports sound very promising. We are still getting equipment ready and preparing to chop silage in the next few days.

Harvest is slowly starting in our area. Guys to the south have done a fair amount of both crops. North of Carthage there has been little done — a few fields here and there. We look to get started on corn Wednesday or Thursday. Yield reports so far have been very good, so that is promising!

Harvest is in full swing in our area. A lot of beans have been cut, and I’m guessing the corn will start coming out this week. Lime is being staged in preparation for fall work. We started shelling our corn, which was planted in May. Yields are very good, but the corn is 24-28% moisture still. We look to start cutting beans Wednesday if weather allows us. We received a shower over the weekend and looks like we will get another round of rain this coming weekend.

Harvest is moving along nicely in our area. There has been a good mix of corn and beans taken out. Our corn is still running 20 to 24% but with very good yields. We started cutting beans on Wednesday, and so far those yields have been as expected. We look to get a good chunk of beans out this week.

Harvest is progressing quickly with the good weather. We did receive between five- to eight-tenths of rain on Thursday evening that gave us Friday morning to get caught up on cattle stuff and other odds and ends. We should finish up beans this week and get back into corn. Yields so far have been in line with my expectations.

We wrapped up beans Friday evening. We will start back in on corn Monday and continue to chop away. Yields were a little disappointing as we got to our later-planted/later-maturity varieties. May-planted beans were 10-15 bushels off compared to our April-planted. Most farms will have their bean harvest wrapped up this week. I’m also hearing some people will finish up completely. This has been a quick and dry harvest so far in 2024. Lack of rain is going to pose a real issue as temperatures drop and fall ammonia season approaches.

Harvest is starting to wind down in western Illinois. Pretty much all the beans are out and a pile of corn is out too. We have about 10 days of running left. Corn yields are still very good. Moisture is anywhere from 14-18%. Not much dirt work being done with it being so dry. A lot of fertilizer and lime are being spread.

We can see the light at the end of the tunnel! We should wrap harvest up this week, and to say it’s been a grind is an understatement. Yields have been great. We did run into a certain hybrid that was affected heavily by aphids, and even with an insecticide pass yield was off 25-35 bushels. Tillage and dry fertilizer application is continuing, but no NH3 has been applied yet to my knowledge.

Harvest finally wrapped up for us Saturday evening, just in time for the rain to hit our area. Not a lot of crops are left in the area — a few fields here or there. NH3 tanks started moving around on Friday and Saturday but not enough got done to make a real dent. We are going to take the week to get ready for NH3 when the ground gets fit again and get caught up on some things that got put off during harvest!

2024 started off very slow for us and our immediate area. Some corn and beans were planted in April, but a lot was planted in May. Wet and cool conditions were to blame for the slow start. As the growing season pushed on into July, we were looking very good. As August came the rains stopped and we didn't get much rain until the end of October. The lack of rain didn't seem to hurt corn yields too bad or the April-planted beans. Our May beans were 10-15 bushels off compared to our April-planted. We shelled a lot of 13-15% moisture corn. Planning is well on its way for the 2025 season. Input prices look like they will be steady to slightly lower on average.