By TIM ALEXANDER

Illinois Correspondent

PEORIA, Ill. — What began with late-thawing snowpack on the upper Mississippi River followed by widespread, near-continuous spring storms has resulted in moderate to heavy flood conditions lingering in river valleys and low-lying cropland across much of Illinois.

So much rain has fallen that thousands of acres of vulnerable cropland have remained unplanted, even as deadlines for farmers to make prevented planting claims on corn (June 5 for most of Illinois; June 30 in southern Illinois) and soybeans (June 20) rapidly approach.

Planting progress in Illinois, Iowa, and elsewhere slowed to a crawl during the week ending May 28, with just 35 percent of the corn planted – which is 60 percent behind the five-year average – in Illinois. Soybeans planted were at just 14 percent, compared with a five-year state average of 84 percent.

In Iowa, corn planted as of May 28 was at 76 percent, or two weeks behind average, while less than one-third of the expected soybean crop had been planted, according to USDA Crop Progress and Condition state reports.

In central Illinois, Peoria County Farm Bureau Manager Patrick Kirchhofer estimated on May 29 that 40 percent of the corn and 20 percent of soybeans had been planted in the county.

“Planting progress does vary significantly within Peoria County,” he said. “In the Brimfield-Princeville areas I’ve heard estimates of 80 percent of corn in the ground, but there are some areas of the county, especially the southern half, that have very little planting progress.

“It’s likely that corn will still be planted up until the first or second week of June before farmers start thinking about taking prevent-plant or switching to soybeans.”

More severe storms – this time with tornadoes – swept across Illinois and seven other states during the Memorial Day weekend, with spotty and sometimes significant showers throughout last week. The severity of the storms prompted Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to activate 200 members of the Illinois National Guard in response to the “grave situation” along the flooded Mississippi and Illinois rivers on May 30.

“Their primary focus will be supporting levees and critical infrastructure,” said National Guard Brig. Gen. Richard Neeley.

The situation has left many farmers in the Marshall and Putnam counties region of north-central Illinois facing tough decisions, as moderate rainfall continued in the region on June 2.

“My neighbors who farm the river bottoms are all underwater,” said Jerry Read, who is one of the lucky growers who plants the sandy soils of Marshall County, and was able to seed his corn during a small window of opportunity in early April. “It’s not a record flood, but unlike other years, the river just never seems to go down.”

Those farmers in the county who started planting crops early in April and have avoided flooding are among “the very fortunate few,” according to Read, 67, who recently returned to full-time farming with his brother after the siblings sold their interest in the family’s CASE-IH implement dealership and hardware businesses in Henry, Ill.

“Everything looks as good as any year, but I am fortunate not to have many low spots. I have a good crop started, but my brother farms three times as much acreage as I do, and he only has 200 acres in. Some of the farmers are literally wringing their hands with nothing in the ground and nothing to do.

“A lot of the old-time farmers – those maybe 10 years older than me – say they have never seen anything like this before. If you’ve got black land, you’ve done nothing. If you’ve got sand and were prepared to meet an opportunity (in early April), you’ve got corn in the ground. If you weren’t, you are just as wet as everyone else,” he added.

Read cautioned there is a lot of “misinformation and concern” surrounding the prevented planting option and whether the Trump administration will be able to deliver on its planned second Market Facilitation Program for tariff relief, and he advised farmers to proceed cautiously.

“There is so much news out there, you don’t know what to believe. I think that is causing a lot of farmers a lot of extra stress, who are looking for a way out. We’re in an encased system right now, and we are going to take a lick here, I am afraid,” he said.

COUNTRY Financial’s Martin McDonald was a participant in an Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB)-sponsored webinar last week that provided the state’s farmers with information on making claims. During the presentation, which may be viewed by registered members through the IFB website, McDonald offered 10 facts about the prevented planting program that farmers should keep in mind.

“Prevented planting,” he said, “is what you’ve done in the past minus what you’re doing in the current crop year.”