Search Site   
News Stories at a Glance
Deere 4440 cab tractor racked up $18,000 at farm retirement auction
Indiana legislature passes bills for ag land purchases, broadband grants
Make spring planting safety plans early to avoid injuries
Michigan soybean grower visits Dubai to showcase U.S. products
Scientists are interested in eclipse effects on crops and livestock
U.S. retail meat demand for pork and beef both decreased in 2023
Iowa one of the few states to see farms increase in 2022 Ag Census
Trade, E15, GREET, tax credits the talk at Commodity Classic
Ohioan travels to Malta as part of US Grains Council trade mission
FFA members learn about Australian culture, agriculture during trip
Timing of Dicamba ruling may cause issues for 2024 planting
   
Archive
Search Archive  
   
Kentucky corn growers may harvest high yields

By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky corn growers are hoping for the same news later this season that wheat growers are getting now: Expect near-record yields.

University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture specialists said in a release last week that this year’s wheat crop “has been a textbook example for producing outstanding to near record-breaking yields for Kentucky producers.”

Not bad for a state where producers a few months ago were holding their breath and hoping the rain would stop long enough to put nitrogen on a soaked crop. There is no comparison to last year – which doesn’t mean much, since much of the 2007 crop fell to the spring freeze – but what a difference a year makes!

“We’ve had hardly any freeze damage this year,” said Jim Herbek, UK grain crops specialist. Everything has gone really well.”

In one western Kentucky county, the crop was the best ever, according to Clint Hardy, agriculture and natural resources agent.
“In Daviess County, we’re looking at probably three times the average yield per acre from a year ago, including the destroyed acreage,” he said.

Will the large harvest equate to big profits? Most grain prices, including wheat, are high right now. But the prices at grain elevators are lower than those listed on the futures market, said Hardy.
“The cash price is lower than we would like to see. The price gap between the board and the local elevators is $2 to $2.50, depending on your proximity to the river,” he said.

Fuel cost is the likely cause of the drop. Producers are still dealing with last year’s disaster, as well. Many grain elevators gave producers the option to roll over their 2007 contracts to 2008, which many did, and is possibly keeping them from capitalizing on current prices.

The upside to that is 2008 yields should be large enough to give producers an excess to more than cover last year’s contracts and take advantage of, at least in part, this year’s price. The wet spring weather, which kept many corn producers out of their fields longer than they wanted, gave way to perfect conditions up until a recent dry spell in parts of the state that caused concern, according to the July 6 Kentucky Agricultural Statistics Service (KASS) Weekly Crop and Weather Report.

“Corn condition was rated 1 percent very poor, 3 percent poor, 20 percent fair, 54 percent good and 22 percent excellent. Thirty-one percent of the corn has tasseled or is tasseling. Sixteen percent of the corn has silked or was silking as of Sunday, July 6, well behind both last year’s 62 percent and the five-year average of 59 percent. Lack of rain is becoming an increasing concern in central Kentucky and a few western counties,” the report stated.

But the old adage about how quickly the weather changes in Kentucky held true and a couple of days of rain last week in most regions of the state put the corn crop on track, according to Chad Lee, UK extension grain specialist.

“We’re still looking at an excellent crop, but we need proper rainfall right now to ensure that. At this point last year we were already beginning to see problems. If the weather conditions hold, I think this will be one of the best crops statewide we’ve seen in quite some time,” he said.

UK grain crops experts say now is the time moisture becomes important for yield determination and the crop will require periodic rainfall to maintain the excellent crop condition. Corn determines ear length and row number prior to tasseling.

Much of the corn crop should have good ear length and row numbers. At this point, the state needs favorable conditions for pollination, seed set and seed fill.

Lee said, “A 112-day corn crop requires 24 inches of rain per growing season for adequate yields. That equates to about 0.2 inches per day, but a crop can grow with a little less water, depending on the timing.”

Hopefully the weather will cooperate, but with the lure of high prices, some producers may be tempted to go for higher yields through the use of fungicides. This practice has been known to increase yields – but research has found just the opposite happens about as often.

According to information from the UK College of Agriculture, in 2007 Lee and plant pathologist Paul Vincelli “conducted experiments to test the effectiveness of fungicides on increasing corn yields under low disease and good growing conditions.

“The results showed no significant difference between treated and untreated plots. Vincelli said he conducted similar tests several years ago and received similar results.”

UK specialists suggest farmers use fungicides in the event of significant risk for disease.

7/16/2008