Illinois is experiencing its wettest June in years. To find out how that's affecting this year's crops, environmental reporter Jess Savage spoke with Giovani Preza Fontes. He is Illinois' food crop agronomist and an assistant professor of crop sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Jess Savage: In Illinois, we've been having kind of crazy weather the last couple of weeks. Can you walk us through what that has been like for the crops this season?
Giovani Preza Fontes: It's a totally different June than we've seen over the past three or four seasons. Previously, we had relatively dry Junes, which came with the benefit of less standing water in fields. That allowed crops to develop strong root systems, explore the soil and become established. Every time the soil becomes saturated, it affects growth and development because plants lack the oxygen needed for respiration. That's slowed crop growth and development.
JS: Okay, that's really helpful to understand. In your early-season crop progress and conditions report, you mentioned that much of the rain Illinois has received has come from isolated thunderstorms rather than widespread rainfall. Is that normal for this time of year?
GPF: Yes. What we've seen is that the pop-up showers people often talk about are becoming more common. That means not every field — and not every part of a field — receives rainfall. Looking at this stage of the growing season, we're still early in crop development. I would rather see slightly drier conditions because crops can thrive through stronger root development and a healthier root system.
JS: Okay, so we're talking about kind of a wetter start to the season, and I know in previous years, especially getting on into the summer, it starts getting really dry in Illinois. Are you expecting that this year?
GPF: As long as we get enough, or average, rainfall in July and August, I think we should be fine. What we've seen in the past is a relatively dry June, but then we got timely rainfall by the time the corn was pollinated and soybeans started to bloom. I think if we get a similar scenario this year, we should be moving to good conditions for the second half of the growing season.
JS: I feel like anytime I talk with researchers or farmers about weather and crops, there's always an element of uncertainty because you can't control the weather. Is that stressful, hopeful or something else?
GPF: That's an interesting take. I mean, there's no way that we can predict the weather, so one of the things that we try to do is kind of look back from past season and see what happened and lessons that we can use to help us be more prepared for the next growing season. One thing is certain: no two growing seasons are the same. But many farmers already have a strong understanding of weather patterns on their fields and how those conditions affect management decisions. Ultimately, we're trying to manage crops for the best possible environment. We know what to expect on average, and that's the starting point for managing corn and soybeans in Illinois.
JS: Okay. Well, thank you so much for speaking with me. This has been great.
GPF: Yeah, thank you. Anytime.
Copy Edited by Eryn Lent
