Northern Illinois farmers are hoping for more precipitation ahead of this year's growing season. Agriculture officials say the combination of last year's drought and the relatively dry winter have left the region well short of normal precipitation levels.
Russ Higgins is a commercial agriculture educator with the U-of-I extension. He says the situation has created a big concern for farmers:
We are not only looking at dry top soil, but our sub-soil is also very dry." -Russ Higgins
Higgins says if the problem persists...it would put a lot of stress on crops. That could lead to lower yields at a much quicker pace.