This spring’s cooler weather has forced farmers in DeKalb County to delay their planting season.

Greg Millburg, DeKalb County Farm Bureau manager, said mid-April is the time when farmers want to plant their crops.

“Now is when farmers ideally would like to get out there,” he said. “But the ground has been cold and wet so they haven’t started yet.”

Millburg said the weather plays an important role in starting the planting season.

“The cold weather delays the planting process for crops to grow which accounts for the delay,” he said.

Millburg said if the weather stays dry, farmers could plant this week.

NIU meteorologist Gilbert Sebenste said the weather isn’t usually cold in April, but in recent years that has changed.

“We haven’t been used to it being this cool in April,” he said. “But the weather in the last few years has been like this in April.”

Sebenste said during April the temperature has varied.

“The temperature has been going up and down throughout April,” he said. “But the temperature trend should start to be going up.”

Lyle Paul, an agronomist at the Northern Illinois Agronomy Research Center, said yields for corn could go down because of the delay.

“The delay for planting could cause the expected yields to decrease because of the weather,” Paul said. “It all depends on how much longer farmers have to hold off planting their crops.”

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