We received rain on all of our farms on May 14 and only on some fields on May 13 and 16. Our fields received a range of 0.2 to 0.6 inches. Due to a planter breakdown and the rain, we are a day or a day-and-a-half from finishing up planting. In addition to field preparation, planting and spraying, I saw some sidedress nitrogen application occurring in the area. The early-planted corn is at the V4 growth stage and the early soybean fields are at the V1 to V2 growth stage. The internodes will begin to elongate in V4 corn and are transitioning to the developing nodal root system at V3. Nitrogen fixation begins at V2 in soybeans. The May 18 Drought Monitor increased in size including a majority of Iroquois County and all of Ford County. Those areas are designated as D0 — abnormally dry. The local closing prices for May 18 were $5.64 for nearby corn, $4.60 for new-crop corn, $13.42 for nearby soybeans and $11.44 for new-crop soybeans.