Region Updates

Region 5 | August 11, 2023 | Champaign

Talon Becker
tbecker2@illinois.edu

Caption: Estimated accumulated precipitation – Aug. 5 – Aug. 11.
Caption: Variable ear size seen in several fields – Champaign Co.,
SYNOPSIS

Soils in southwestern Champaign County are now well saturated following several rainy days since last weekend. The Midwestern Regional Climate Center estimates 2.5″ to 4″ across the county, although the true range may be slightly larger. A few corn fields in the area are still showing a good amount of goose necking from high winds earlier in the season and may present harvest challenges if not harvested before stalks loose too much of their integrity. Several corn fields also showed a fairly high level of ear to ear size variability within small areas of the field. Corn in the fields I visited were at early R4 (dough) to early R5 (dent). Soybean fields are well into R5 (beginning seed) with some fields closer to R6 (full seed). There is also some new pods starting to form following the return of soil moisture.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING BEST DESCRIBES CURRENT CONDITIONS IN THIS COUNTY?
Moderately Wet (soil is damp, standing water may be present in low areas, water bodies are full)
IF CONDITIONS ARE ON THE DRY END, WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING US DROUGHT MONITOR CATEGORIES BEST FIT CURRENT CONDITIONS
Near Normal (Dnada)