Day at grain elevator reveals ups and downs of 2019 harvest, farming industry

Oct 20, 2019 at 12:17 PM CST
RISING — It’s been slower than usual at the Premier Cooperative grain elevator in Rising, just west of Champaign. Farmers were late to start planting, so harvest is coming in late. “We’re pretty far behind,” said Nancy Turner, the elevator’s manager. “We’re at least two to three weeks behind.” As of last week, about 25 percent of Illinois corn and soybeans had been harvested, less than half as far along as a year ago at this point. “This year is an entirely different year than we’ve ever had,” Turner said. “We’ve got a couple farmers that are done, and some of them haven’t even hardly started. So it’s just an odd, odd year. I don’t think I’ve seen a year quite this crazy.”

Oct 20, 2019 at 12:17 PM CST

RISING — It’s been slower than usual at the Premier Cooperative grain elevator in Rising, just west of Champaign. Farmers were late to start planting, so harvest is coming in late. “We’re pretty far behind,” said Nancy Turner, the elevator’s manager. “We’re at least two to three weeks behind.” As of last week, about 25 percent of Illinois corn and soybeans had been harvested, less than half as far along as a year ago at this point. “This year is an entirely different year than we’ve ever had,” Turner said. “We’ve got a couple farmers that are done, and some of them haven’t even hardly started. So it’s just an odd, odd year. I don’t think I’ve seen a year quite this crazy.”