Driving through the country this time of year, you’re likely to see two things: corn and soybeans.  In 2023, 11.2 million acres of land in Illinois were planted in corn and nearly 10.4 million acres in soybeans.  These two crops make up the vast majority of our agricultural production in...

By Carla Rich Montez, Extension Master Naturalist serving Fulton, Mason, Peoria, and Tazewell counties   Almost everywhere you look on Brent Fowler’s farm, a restored habitat is visible. But it hasn’t always been that way. Fowler grew up during the era of farm modernization when...

With a new year comes opportunities for a new start… especially in the garden. As we look through seed catalogs, past garden records, and develop plans for next year’s planting, crop rotation in an annual garden bed is an important management method to implement. Crop rotation is a cultural...

As a teenager, one of my farm duties was cultivating the weeds out of the corn and soybeans. I preferred to drive our bigger tractor because it was easier to handle, but the cultivator was mounted on the back which posed some additional challenges to the job at hand. Back in those days, GPS was...

Mild dryness in April and early May has quickly transitioned to a problem following a very dry end to May and first few weeks of June. Most of the state has had less than 50% of normal rainfall since mid-May, and parts of central and northern Illinois are operating with 50 to 60% of normal rainfall...

USDA has released estimated Corn Yields by county average for 2022.  Stark County led with the highest average yield per acre(ac) at 240.6 bushels (bu) per acre.  Tazewell County came in 9th in the state at 229.9 bushels per acre. Local County Corn Yields: Tazewell   ...

As the calendar enters February, discussion on the 2023 crop turns to the subject of Crop Insurance. The deadline for Federal Crop Insurance signup is March 15 for row crops in Illinois.  Federal Crop Insurance (FCI) is heavily subsidized at the tune of about 60% of the actual cost of the...

When the garden harvest has matured, the work has not stopped. In North Normal, a harvest of potatoes and onions is ending but the storage preparation has just begun. If your home harvest is happening now, don’t let poor handling rot the product of your hard-earned gardening season. Follow these...

Depending on your soil test results; nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are nutrients we supply year after year to our corn crop; however, there is a nutrient we might be overlooking when making fertilizer applications. Sulfur is considered the fourth most important nutrient needed by plants. With...