2019's rainy spring is creating problems for farmers across Illinois. Those farmers are already well behind schedule as they struggle to get spring planting season off the ground. Local farmers say this season's rainfall has caused severe delays in their planting, something they haven't seen in decades. Among those affected is Freeport farmer Steve Fricke. Like many others across the state, he's behind schedule because of wet fields. "You can see how I can do that with my finger, just push that in,” said Stephenson County Farm Bureau president Steve Fricke. “Imagine what we do when we drive over with machinery." Grant Kohlbauer is an agronomist, an expert in soil management and crop production. The rain is impacting his job too. "You don't know until you get to the fields and see what it looks like conditions, if you should really go out there and do anything or not,” Kohlbauer said. According to the US Department of Agriculture, less than 25% of corn and 9% of soybeans have been planted in Illinois. On average, almost 90% of corn and 50% of soybeans are planted by May 19th. "The way we look at it really, is that every day after the 15th of May, just a rule of thumb, is that we're losing a bushel per acre per day,” Fricke said. Fricke says farmers are looking at a significant reduction in yield as they get into June. "Can't say I've ever seen this before,” Kohlbauer said. “It'll be a learning experience for everybody. It sounds like in the last 30 years we haven't seen anything like it." Fricke says although farmers prefer to finish planting by mid-May, his crop insurance has a final plant date of mid-June. "We need to have it plan it by then or else the coverage's change,” Fricke said. “You have to look at a crop that's probably not going to produce anything." In the meantime, farmers' eyes are glued to weather reports. "Every 20 minutes, every hour of the day,” Kohlbauer said. "As a farmer, we start the day and end the day thinking about weather,” Fricke said. Fricke says this year he's farming corn. He has two thirds of his farm land planted, but hopes the soil will dry up soon and finish the other third left. Source - https://www.mystateline.com/