If Mark Tuttle has anything to complain about, he said it’s the hay crop this year.

"It’s been hard to make hay this summer. Every three or four days, we get a shower," said Tuttle, a Somonauk-area farmer and president of the DeKalb County Farm Bureau, last Friday.

"We’ve never been without moisture; we’ve mowed our yards every four days all summer long. The temperatures have been a little chilly, but I think our corn and beans are looking very good."

The Aug. 11 weekly crop progress and condition report from the Illinois field office of NASS shows topsoil moisture statewide rated at 2 percent very short, 17 percent short, 76 percent adequate and 5 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture shows similar numbers, with 2 percent very short, 23 percent short, 72 percent adequate and 3 percent surplus.

Precipitation across the state averaged 1.45 inches, 0.51 inch above normal. The average temperature was 72.1 degrees, 1.7 degrees below normal, making for what Tuttle called "a Montreal summer instead of our normal Midwest summer."

Corn in the dough stage was rated at 77 percent, compared to the five-year average of 62 percent. Corn dented was rated at 17 percent, compared to the five-year average of 23 percent. Corn condition was rated at 82 percent good to excellent.

Soybeans blooming reached 94 percent, just above the five-year average of 91 percent. Pod setting reached 79 percent, ahead of the five-year average of 66 percent. Soybean condition is rated at 78 percent good to excellent.

Pasture conditions were rated 1 percent very poor, 4 percent poor, 28 percent fair, 55 percent good and 12 percent excellent.