Around Vermilion County, signs of emerging plants are all over. As we head into a weekend with a nearly perfect forecast for planting; and the Vermilion Co unty Farm Bureau’s Tom Fricke says; yes, plenty of work will get done. There may not be as much action after dark as during harvest season. But then again, those with the right equipment might make a go at it.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: It’s harder to plant at night than it is to maybe harvest, because you’re trying to watch your marker row if you’re not using equipment that’s equipped with using a GPS system. But there’s still a lot of work that will happen, and from dawn to dusk there will be a lot of seed put in the ground.
As for up to this point, Fricke says it’s been a battle of finding “little dry spots” in between rains to get as much done as possible. And within just Vermilion County, it can be different for everyone. But the prognosis is good.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: There’s no real concern yet, because especially given the forecast, it looks like a lot of opportunities to get finished up in the next week to ten days. Some guys have been wet, and haven’t been able to get in probably as much as they wanted to; and others are already done with a lot of their planting.
Fricke says, if you consider the entire state, Vermilion County has been one of the better places to be a farmer this spring.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: When you look at the statewide numbers, we’re a little bit behind the five-year average. But I think a lot of that is really because Southern Illinois got hit with such large rains earlier in April, that they haven’t been able to get in. And typically the southern part of the state gets in first, because they are further south and they get warmer faster.
As for what’s happening outside the fields, Fricke says it’s once again a case of “hoping to finally have an updated federal farm bill”; so that everyone knows the status of important programs. The old farm bill is currently on its second extension.
