‘The last shot’: Final applications for corn, soybeans

WATERMAN, Ill. — Spraying fungicide for the corn and soybean crops as well as the last nitrogen application have been completed for the 2026 growing season at Wessels Family Farm.

“We did a nitrogen application in early July by Y-dropping 32% to give the corn the last shot of nitrogen,” said Brandon Wessels, who is married to Kayla and farms together with his parents, Rob and Teri Wessels.

Sulfur was applied together with the nitrogen.

“We have dabbled with sulfur in the past, but this is the first time we put it on all our corn acres,” Wessels said. “Now that the air is so clean, you don’t get sulfur from the rain, and sulfur is the No. 1 nutrient after nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.”

Applying fungicides is important for the farmers in DeKalb County in northern Illinois, especially after last year.

“We had southern rust on our corn which is not super common for the area,” Wessels said. “One field that was corn on corn convinced us not to skip a year going forward.”

He uses his sprayer to apply crop protectants on his soybean fields and for corn hires a flying service to make an aerial application.

The farmer is also considering the addition of a drone to his farming operation to utilize for spraying his crops.

“Drones have been out long enough that somebody like me can buy a decent-sized drone at a point where it is worth considering for someone who is not doing it for hire,” he said. “But I haven’t pulled the trigger on that yet.”

Wessels has not seen diseases in his corn or soybean fields.

“The ears that I have pulled look promising,” he said. “But we are a long way off from harvest.”

The 45-acre wheat field on the farm was harvested in mid-July by his father, while he was on vacation with his family.

“We have grown wheat in the past, but this is my first wheat field since I started farming in 2013,” Wessels said.

“We had a pretty decent yield and we baled some of the straw, which we will sell at our farm stand in DeKalb,” he said. “We are going to plant a cover crop on that field.”

Wessels is doing research to decide which cover crops will be best for the farm.

“We are looking at tillage radishes or maybe cereal rye,” he noted.

“It is nice to have those 45 acres done and get the kinks worked out because every time you get the combine out for harvest, you don’t know what you are going to have to fix,” he said. “And the wheat gives us a little working capital to cover bills between now and harvest.”

Wessels did not store any of the wheat. It went straight to the elevator.

“We had a much-needed wheat rally for price right at the time of harvest, which is not normal, but welcome,” he said.

Sweet corn harvest on Wessels Family Farm started on July 17. The farmers and their crew pick a truckload of sweet corn by hand every day starting at 7 a.m. and sell it at their farm stand in DeKalb.

“We started picking planting No. 5 today,” Wessels said on Aug. 5.

“Picking sweet corn in the morning is the way to do it because it is nice and crisp in the morning and it snaps right off,” he said. “If you wait until the afternoon, it is a lot more rubbery to snap the ear off the stalk.”

Harvest is going well for the sweet corn, Wessels said, although they are finding a few ears with missing kernels.

“You can see the ears with your hands,” he said. “When you grab an ear, it takes a second and you know whether it is good or not.”

In addition to sweet corn, the farm stand features a wide variety of items for sale — including tomatoes, cucumbers, cantaloupes, kohlrabi, zucchinis, yellow squash, onions, potatoes and green beans, to name a few.

“There is honey and my sister makes candles, Farmer’s Favorite Daughter, and there are soaps, handcrafted wood toys and all sorts of stuff,” Wessels said about the farm stand that is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“We do bulk orders and we are always happy to work with someone who wants something special,” he said.

At the end of August, the Wesselses will gather a crew of helpers to pick sweet corn that will be distributed at the corn boil, held during the DeKalb Corn Fest on Aug. 29.

“We start at 6 a.m. and pick and husk corn to fill two trucks and a trailer,” Wessels said.

“It’s a big day and we have a lot of fun standing around the truck or trailer and husking corn and talking,” he said.

Wessels includes his two sons, who are 3 and 4 years old, to help with picking corn and assisting at the farm stand.

“I give them a choice to pick sweet corn,” he said. “I hope they see that work can be fun and you can enjoy what you do.”

“They are eager to work and that adds so much joy for me,” he added.

Since the Wesselses grow seed beans, one of the next things on the list of things to do is figure out the logistics of where they are going to store them.

“Ideally, harvesting the seed beans is the first thing we will do because everything that you use — the grain carts, combine and augers have to be cleaned out,” Wessels said.

“The seed beans should be the first crop that is ready because they were the first ones we planted and they are the earliest maturing, too,” he explained.

“We also have maintenance to do with the grain bins, augers and the dump pit,” he said.