BLOOMINGTON -- Bucking a statewide trend, Central Illinois farmers planted less corn and more soybeans this year.

"I think a lot (of Central Illinois farmers) would have liked to have done more corn but the (wet) weather didn't cooperate," said John Hawkins, a spokesman for the Illinois Farm Bureau. Hawkins said it's too early to tell what impact the soggy weather will have on yields.

Statistics from the National Weather Service in Lincoln show that just over 10 inches of rain fell in Bloomington in March and April, nearly 3.5 inches above normal. Another 7.61 inches fell in June, 3.77 inches above normal. All the rain meant some farmers could not get into the fields and planted later than normal.

As a result, 1.141 million acres of soybeans, a later-season crop, were planted in Central Illinois this year compared to 1.075 million acres last year, Hawkins said. Corn acreage was down to 1.734 million acres from 1.787 million in 2008.

Statewide, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported 12.3 million acres of corn planted this spring, slightly more than the 12.2 million planted in 2008, and 9.1 million acres of soybeans, also down slightly from a year ago.

Included in the Central Illinois area are McLean, Peoria, Stark, Marshall, Woodford, Tazewell, Mason, Menard, Logan, DeWitt and Macon counties, Hawkins said. He said county-specific planting figures would not be available until early next year.

Mike Mouser, who farms in the Carlock, Hudson and Normal areas, was able to get into the fields early enough to plant half corn and half soybeans, as usual. But he wasn't surprised that the wet weather prompted some farmers to switch to a later crop.