Illinois farmers could run out of time to plant if wet weather doesn't subside

GRAYSLAKE, Ill. (WLS) -- The recent wet weather Illinois has experienced has left area farmlands saturated, and in some cases underwater. Farmers say that is putting them way behind on their spring planting and they fear it will have a negative effect on this year's crops.

They've had plenty of time to get the tractor tuned up and ready for planting season, because it's not out planting already, and farmer Bill McNeill is starting to get worried.

McNeill grows corn and soybeans on more than 500 acres in Grayslake. But much of his farmland is underwater right now, and all of it is too wet to plant. Rain is a farmer's friend in the summer but in the spring too much rain keeps farmers from planting.

The unusually wet spring has affected farmers throughout the Midwest, but Illinois has been especially hard hit. Experts say with the soil so wet, heavy and cold, it takes the air out and washes nutrients away, making it difficult if not impossible for seeds to take root.

McNeill has bags and bags of soybean and corn seeds in the barn ready to be loaded up in the seed planter. He said it's not too late yet, but it will take at least four or five days with no rain for the soil to dry out sufficiently. And time is running out before it's just too late to plant.