WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — While Indiana’s soybean harvest is almost complete, the state’s corn crop is still a work in progress, according to the latest numbers from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
The Nov. 30 crop report shows 84 percent of the state’s corn has been harvested, down from last year’s 99 percent in the same period. The five-year average is 98 percent. In the northern part of the state, 80 percent of corn is out, with 84 percent in central Indiana and 93 percent in the south.
Weather and problems at elevators are delaying the end of the harvest, said Kiflam Hurlbut, agricultural statistician with the NASS Indiana field office.
“There’s a bottleneck at the elevators because of drying capacity,” he said. “This is beyond anyone’s control. They just don’t have the capacity for drying this much of a wet crop this late in the year.”
The moisture content of the most recent corn harvested is averaging 21 percent, according to the NASS report. “The weather hasn’t cooperated with us,” he said. “We’re just lucky we haven’t had any severe weather.”
The condition of the corn crop will worsen the longer it’s in the ground, Hurlbut said. “It gets harder to harvest and there’s an increased deterioration of the stalks. You can get damage from birds and other environmental factors that reduce the quality.”
Indiana’s soybean harvest was 99 percent done; last year by that time, it was complete. The five-year average is also 99 percent.
The emergence of winter wheat is also behind, according to the NASS report. Seventy-eight percent of the state’s crop has emerged, which is off last year’s 99 percent, and the five-year average of 97 percent.
By Michele F. Mihaljevich
Indiana Correspondent
Illinois Illinois farmers are struggling through the mud with combines, trying to salvage a 2009 harvest. Persistently high soil moisture levels continued throughout the state, leading to difficult harvest conditions.
Fall tillage has been delayed in many areas. Winter wheat planting and emergence has also been hampered.
According to the NASS Illinois Field Office, there were 3.3 days suitable for fieldwork during the final week of November. Topsoil moisture was rated at 1 percent short, 43 percent adequate and 56 percent surplus.
Along with wet topsoil, farmers have been harvesting corn with unacceptably high moisture levels, causing long lines at grain elevators with drying services.
“We are still seeing grain coming in with 24 to 25 percent moisture,” said Jeff Brooks, manager of one of three Grainland, Inc. elevators in central Illinois’ Woodford County.
“However, we’re a lot better off than I thought we would be a few weeks ago, when we were seeing grain with 30 to 40 percent moisture. A nice week in early November with lots of sun and wind allowed some of the corn to dry out.”
Peoria County farmer Jerry Noe, who harvested his corn last week, said “we’ve really come a long way in terms of grain moisture. It’s still around the 25 percent level, but that’s nothing unusual during a wet year.”
Seventy-two percent of the state’s corn was reported harvested as of Nov. 30, according to NASS, well below the five-year average of 99 percent. The soybean harvest was described as virtually complete (96 percent), below the 100 percent five-year average. Temperatures across the state averaged 43.2 degrees, 5.9 degrees above normal.
NASS has indicated although its final weekly crop and weather report for the year has been issued, because of late harvest it will continue to update harvest progress and conditions online at www.nass.usda.gov/il
By Tim Alexander
Illinois Correspondent
Ohio Credit ideal weather conditions or perhaps new soybean genetics; either way, farmers in Ohio can expect to see a record of 48 bushels per acre at the end of the growing season. Ohio ranks higher than the national average of just 41.7 bushels per acre.
NASS officials said the old record of 47 bushels was reached in 2007, 2006 and 2004. The state forecast of 219.8 million bushels also is expected to be a record and would be up 36 percent from 2008.
“If people had the weeds, disease and insects under control and they got the rain, they have some fantastic yields out there,” said The Ohio State University extension agronomist Jim Beuerlien. “Ohio got about as good a growing season as you could ask for. In August we had perfect weather. Lots of rain, clear sunny days and cool nights. That adds a lot of yield.”
Corn looks good, too. According to the Ohio NASS, as of Nov. 29, 85 percent of the corn was harvested – 13 percent behind last year and 11 percent behind the five-year average. Despite the lag, extension corn agronomist Peter Thomison said the numbers are excellent.
“We have a fantastic crop out there, with yields averaging above 200 bushels per acre in many fields,” he said.
But, figures from the NASS in Reynoldsburg say the state average is 166 bushels per acre. The national average for corn is 159.5.
Thomison added that unfavorable weather might be keeping growers out of their fields, and they should harvest as quickly as possible: “Why let that crop go down the tube waiting on grain to dry down, which is questionable at this late date?”
He said in recent years farmers have experienced good growing conditions that have allowed them to leave corn in the field longer than they probably should. “But this is probably not the year to be doing that,” he added.
By Doug Graves
Ohio Correspondent
Michigan
Rain and high moisture content in Michigan’s corn crop continues to hinder harvest in several areas.
According to the Nov. 29 crop update published by the NASS Michigan Field Office, farmers reported nearly one-quarter of corn was still in the field. Last year, 94 percent of the crop had been harvested by this time, compared to just 76 percent this year.
“The amount of rain and moisture, combined with not enough drying days, has put harvest behind,” said Gerald Tillman, deputy director of the Michigan Field Office.
“High moisture content remains a consistent stumbling block for growers, as time spent waiting at elevators also took away from time spent in the fields,” the report added. “The harvest of corn for grain continued to slowly move forward.”
With the high moisture content and above-average temperatures for this time of year, farmers also are reporting visible mold on corn ears. Lisa Johnson, who farms about 2,000 acres with her family in Montcalm County, said more than 50 percent of their 1,200-acre crop is not yet harvested, but they “are making progress.”
She said both precipitation and high moisture content have slowed their harvest. “We’re running at about 30 percent moisture right now,” she added. “We’re hoping for some better weather without snow, to help it dry a little more.”
By Shelly Strautz-Springborn
Michigan Correspondent |
