A Good Bit Of Illinois Farmers Are Giving Up On Planting Corn

A good bit of Illinois has seen lots of flooding this year and it has really hurt the farmers In our state. With so many storms and rain in a short bit of time, its left millions of acres unseeded. It has also put crops that were planted late in the season in more danger due to severe weather during the growing season according to STLTODAY.com. There is currently a $51 Billion dollar market for corn in the U.S. but with the flooding and U.S.-China trade war going on now slowing agricultural exports, this could be the worst year Illinois farmers have seen in a long time.

With more rain on the way, U.S. corn futures are at a five year high, but fewer farmers will benefit due to the planting disruptions from all the flooding. For instance, One farmer named James McCune, was unable to plant 85% of his intended corn acres this year. He lives in Bureau County, which now has the 4th highest risk of all U.S. counties for corn acreage to go unplanted due to lots of rain. As of now, this is looking to be the smallest corn crop in the U.S. in the last 4 years. Its really looking bad for Illinois Farmers this year.