Paul Butler, of Butler Organic Farms in DeKalb, prepares his combine for soy beans after a day of harvesting oats. Butler said that after this summer’s drought, his hay crop production is down 50 percent, wheat fields are down just a little from last...

The government has implemented a loan program to help farmers who may be in financial need due to the drought this summer. “The year was not very successful for corn, but northern Illinois was luckier than the rest of the state,” said Russel Higgins,...