Illinois Farmers Welcome Much-Needed Rain Amid Soil Moisture Concerns

Harvest is wrapping up as widespread rains move through the Midwest. The rain is welcomed by many farmers who are concerned about replenishing soil moisture following a dry harvest, including Steve Turner. 

“Our subsoil moistures coming into this fall were very short, and we didn’t really replenish them,” said Turner, a third-generation farmer in Cass and Morgan counties in Illinois. “So this rain helped, but we’re still in moisture deficit.” 

Turner farms corn, soybeans, wheat, specialty crops, and runs a cow-calf operation with his wife and two oldest sons. He said his area recently received about 3 to 4 inches of rain that soaked into the soil well with little runoff. 

That storm system moved through Illinois on Nov. 3 through Nov. 5. More precipitation is forecasted throughout the Midwest, according to the National Weather Service’s precipitation outlook.

Efficient Harvest Conditions 

Turner said he’s been “spoiled” with good harvest weather the past few years that’s allowed him to be done with harvest by the end of October. The Nov. 3 Crop Progress Report said that 95% of corn and soybeans have been harvested in Illinois. This is 14 percentage points ahead of the five-year average for corn and 8 percentage points for soybeans. 

“Let’s face it, we don’t like how dry it gets, but for harvest time, that works out real well,” Turner said. 

Turner also plants winter wheat and said they had the perfect conditions to “dust it in” this year. He said this week’s rain helped replenish one of his wheat fields that was already sprouted but starting to dry out. Winter wheat in Illinois is 92% planted and 69% emerged, according to the most recent Crop Progress Report. Now, Turner is looking for the right conditions to apply fall nitrogen. 

“We’re looking to see if we get that window to do some fall anhydrous and get more fall tillage done,” Turner said. 

Flash Flooding and Low River Levels 

While some areas of Illinois benefitted from the rain, other areas experienced flash flooding. St. Louis and surrounding areas along the Mississippi River, as well as Valley Park on the Meramec River saw dangerous flooding and road closures. Turner expressed concern about a pattern he’s noticed of rains that come “fast and hard,” and increase the risk for runoff and soil erosion.

“As farmers, we have to be ready to adapt and make it work the best we can,” Turner said. “It becomes more and more of a challenge because this seems to happen a lot.” 

Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford said rainfall totals reached over 8 inches in Granite City, Illinois, and Edwardsville, Illinois. The majority of Illinois is still experiencing some form of drought, but Ford said recent widespread rains will help improve soil moistures. Ford also said that the rain will help raise river levels on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. He said the Illinois River by La Salle, Illinois, is hitting near-record lows. 

“We’re not gonna see the Mississippi go from low flow up to normal flow in a day,” Ford said.  “But it’s part of a longer term process to get that flow back up, so that we can see more active barge transportation south of St. Louis.”