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Prevent plant: Missing pieces to the equation

Farmers in the Mississippi River bottoms are no strangers to prevent plant, but a southwest Illinois farmer says this year there are a lot of unanswered questions.

“The market responding to these late planted situations, the potential for another market facilitation payment. Without the bushels we would not be eligible for that.”

Kent Treece usually farms 3,000 acres of corn and soybeans, but seeping levees and consistent rain has kept him from planting at all this year and there are missing pieces influencing his planting decisions.

“It is hard to put those equations together when you don’t have all the numbers to insert into those.”

With less than ten days until the prevent plant deadline for corn in his county, he expects many farmers in his area to go that route.

“If we get another week or ten days of rain, which looks to be a high probability, I am going to say there is going to be a large amount of prevent plant in our county.”

Treece says weather in the next ten days will be determine how many corn fields will go unplanted.