MACON COUNTY, Ill. (WAND) — David Brown's central Illinois roots run deep.
"It's all I've ever known," he said. "We've tilled some of the same soil since 1867."
But his crops are still waiting to take root as he waits for better weather.
"We need a good hard week to get things done in ideal conditions," Brown said. "We're starting to look at the calendar and say 'it's show time.'"
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Constant rounds of showers at the end of April and throughout the first few weeks of May have left farmers stopping and starting their planting process. Each time the showers come, they have to wait days for the fields to dry out.
Once the fields are dry enough, work kicks into overdrive.
"The Illinois farmer can probably plant upward of 10 percent per day of their crop," Brown said. "That can even be pushed more if you work longer hours and that's likely what we'll be doing."
The good news is Brown and other farmers aren't in danger of losing too much of their yields if they get seeds in the ground in the middle of May. Soybeans have a little more wiggle room in their schedule, but corn is critical for this time of the year. Those farm yields can start to drop if the forecast doesn't give farmers a window for the hundreds — if not thousands — of acres that remain unplowed.
"The forecast I'm looking for is a period of dry weather," he said. "We'll keep planting until we're wasting our time."
Brown has endured the test of time before — otherwise he wouldn't still be here growing his family's roots in the region he loves so much.
"It means a lot to me and my family that we have history and we have continuity," he said.
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