By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH
Indiana Correspondent

ROCKFORD, Ill. — Storms that dumped several inches of snow on parts of Illinois and Iowa a couple of weeks ago have further delayed the corn harvest for farmers already behind because of wet conditions, extension specialists said.

During the Dec. 8-9 storm, more than 14 inches of snow fell in parts of Iowa, and up to 11 inches fell in northwestern Illinois.
“Like a lot of other things with agriculture, this is completely out of the hands of the producer,” said Jim Morrison, extension educator for crops with the University of Illinois. “The glimmer of good news is that the crop, for the most part, has been standing fairly well.”
Morrison works out of the extension system’s Rockford office and focuses on the state’s northwestern counties, where, on average, about 10 percent of the corn crop was still in the ground last week. There are pockets of up to 20 percent still in the fields in parts of the area, he said.

“The snow was heavy with a high moisture content, and that’s not what the crop needed. With all the wind and snow, the tops have been blown out in a lot of areas. I can’t recall a fall or early winter where there was this amount of corn still standing,” he added.
Farmers will try to get the corn harvested once conditions improve, Morrison said. The ground will have frozen and a majority of the snow will have to be gone for them to make an attempt to get the rest of the crop out, he said.

“The ground is pretty soft underneath the snow, and it will have to get solid enough for a corn picker or combine to get out there. Most farmers are kind of resigned to ride this out and to try to harvest when local field conditions allow,” he explained.

“But there is still corn out there in those fields. It’s not like there’s just five bushels an acre and the farmers will go out and disc it under and chuck it. They will try to harvest, whether it’s in the late winter or early spring.”

Farmers who must wait until next year to finish this year’s harvest could be delayed in spring planting, but those who were able to complete their harvest this fall could have problems next year as well, Morrison said.

“Some were out there tilling after the harvest when soil conditions were less than ideal for that,” he said. “They could be creating additional compaction problems, and problems with clods of soil not breaking down very well in the spring.”

The heaviest snow in Iowa fell in a wide line from the southwestern part of the state to the northeast, said Greg Thessen, director of the Iowa field office of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. The state’s farmers had 96 percent of the corn crop out last week, he said.

“For most of the state, this wasn’t a big problem, but for the few guys who still have a crop in the field, they’re worried about it and wondering when they’re going to be able to get it out. That last 4 percent may drag on until spring,” he said.

The potential for yield loss is high for corn still in the field, said Roger Elmore, extension corn agronomist for Iowa State University.
“Normally, 20 percent loss is considered good and half is bad, and best is zero. But there are going to be losses and they will probably be on the high side. We had heavy amounts of very wet snow, high winds and drifting,” he added.

The heavy, wet snow may cause ear droppage and stalk breakage, he said. “It’s just not where you want to be. You know you have to get out there, and you can’t get to it. It’s not a good thing. Any melting could loosen the soil again. It’s just not a pretty picture.”
The snow isn’t all bad, Elmore joked.

“On the bright side, it does create a white Christmas. But most of the farmers would rather have their crop out.”