Illinois farmers welcomed the rain in the last several days and now will welcome some hot, humid conditions.

Soybeans are 94 percent planted and 89 percent emerged, according to this week’s USDA crop report. Good to excellent conditions are reported for 72 percent of soybeans and 76 percent of corn.

“The next big thing coming up is pollination of the corn crop,” says Mark Schleusener, state statistician for the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. “A little bit of heat will do the corn some good. Let’s hope it doesn’t get unbearably hot. Let’s hope we do get a rain every week or so.”

Illinois corn and soybeans continue a strong start to the 2014 season, aided by warm, dry weather.

“Soil moisture around the state is rated as 14 percent in very short and short condition, 77 percent in adequate supply, and 9 percent is surplus,” said Mark Schleusener, the USDA’s Illinois state statistician. Rainfall was about two-thirds of an inch, with the norm being about an inch.

Emergence is ahead of the averages, with corn at 91 percent and soybeans 59 percent. Most of those crops are planted.