FOR those of you who may have been wondering what that bright object was in the western sky Thursday afternoon, it was the sun.

Following the wettest October on record in Illinois in 68 years, November has been nearly as damp and dreary. According to the National Weather Service, 3.59 inches of rain has fallen in the Quincy area this month, already beating the November average by nearly a half an inch.

With rain in the forecast for five of the next nine days, chances are things won't be drying out anytime soon, and that's not good news for some farmers who already have been idled far too much this fall with inclement weather and freezing temperatures.

The Illinois Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) reports that the state's corn harvest was only 19 percent complete by Nov. 1. That compares to 63 percent in 2008 and 86 percent for the five-year average.

Most of that was due to the fact that nearly 9 inches of rain fell statewide, 6 inches above normal and the most since 1941, last month. And the precipitation in the past week in West-Central Illinois has only made matters worse, with Thanksgiving approaching and harvest time running out.

NASS reports corn for grain yield for 2009 is now estimated at 175 bushels per acre, which is down four bushels from the Oct. 1 forecast. At this level, total production for the state would reach 2.07 billion bushels, or 3 percent below last year.

Thirty-five percent of the soybeans had been harvested by Nov. 1, NASS records show, compared to 88 percent last year and 92 percent for the five-year average. This soybean harvest progress was the second latest on record, trailing only 1941, when 21 percent was harvested on that date.

The estimated yield for the Illinois soybean crop was 45 bushels per acre. Production is expected to total 420.8 million bushels, 2 percent below last year's production.

Those numbers are far from disastrous, but many farmers are likely looking toward the sky hoping for a little more sunshine.