The crops are looking good around here.

“Sangamon County tends to get planted earlier than other parts of the state,” says Mark Schleusener, USDA Crop Statistician.  “I drove down near Auburn, and I saw actually a lot of corn emerged.  In that area, we’re showing 14 percent emerged for the whole district. But in that area down by Auburn, it’s probably a higher number.  Things got planted early down there.”

Schleusener says 42 percent of the corn crop is in the ground in the state. The part that includes Springfield is at 65 percent. Soybean planting in Illinois is just underway.