As the harvest season moves forward, the state experienced a little taste of fall weather when temperatures moved below normal for this time of the year and, once again, rainfall exceeded normal levels.

The moisture is slowing some harvest efforts, especially for corn producers with some crops holding excess moisture. As of the Sept. 14 report from the NASS Kentucky field office, corn conditions were rated at 4 percent very poor, 11 percent poor, 21 percent fair, 48 percent good and 16 percent excellent. Thus far, 20 percent of the Kentucky crop has been harvested, well behind the five-year average of 34 percent.

Soybean conditions remain good for the most part, thanks to the late-season rains. NASS reported the crop to be 2 percent very poor, 7 percent poor, 27 percent fair, 49 percent good and 15 percent excellent.

The tobacco crop is in good condition although some patches are remaining in the field longer than producers want due to rainy conditions and a lack of adequate labor. It is listed as 1 percent very poor, 5 percent poor, 21 percent fair, 53 percent good and 21 percent excellent.

By the end of last week, 59 percent of the crop had been cut, which is in line with last year’s status but slightly behind the five-year average, which stands at 64 percent. For the tobacco that has made it into the barn, conditions were listed as 4 percent very poor, 11 percent poor, 22 percent fair, 65 percent good and 11 percent excellent.

Pastures continue to benefit from the late summer rainy weather. Conditions were listed as 1 percent very poor, 4 percent poor, 19 percent fair, 46 percent good and 9 percent excellent, according to NASS.

Chad Lee, a grain crop specialist at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, said overall the season has been a pretty good year for most of the corn and soybean crops. "We’ve had some areas that went through some drought stress, and so we’re going to have some low yields," he explained. "But we also have some areas that are going to have phenomenal yields."