By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Finally, farmers are getting the break they have needed to complete their harvest, as the state is drying out after one of its wettest Octobers.

Officially, it was the third wettest October on record for the state and the wettest for western Kentucky, according to University of Kentucky (UK) agricultural meteorologist Tom Priddy.

 “After the Bluegrass State suffered through two years of drought, the climate pendulum swung back to wetter than normal conditions through October 2009,” he said. “Although this year did not start off unusually wet, the past two months of September and October have helped this year to be the ninth wettest on record for Kentucky.”

The whole growing season saw above-normal rainfall, especially compared to 2007 and 2008, which were drought-stricken.  October rainfall was almost twice the normal at 6.38 inches, while September saw 5.36 inches, almost 2 inches above normal, making it the 11th wettest on record. May, June and July also recorded significant rain, as well.

“Over the past seven months, we’ve had six with above-normal rainfall,” said Mike Mathews, UK College of Agriculture staff meteorologist. “Only one week out of October reported below-normal rainfall. Western sections of the commonwealth were the wettest.”

With all that rain, temperatures around the state were also off. “Adding to the soggy conditions and despite the last week in October warming up, it was not enough to keep the month from being cooler than average; in fact it was the 12th coolest on record,” he said. “In the west, it was the sixth coldest October on record and the ninth coolest for the entire state.”

The average temperature for October stood at 53.8 degrees across the state, 2.8 degrees below normal, according to Priddy. The excess moisture, coupled with cooler than normal temperatures, created a nightmare for farmers who were waiting patiently for crops and fields to dry enough to harvest.

At a time when producers needed an Indian Summer, a record soybean and corn crop were left helpless in the field, requiring an unusual turn of events to take place. The tobacco crop also suffered, with wet, muddy stalks going in the barn with instances of mold and barn rot occurring.

But November is coming to the rescue with warmer temperatures and dry conditions stretching over longer periods. Chad Lee, UK grain crops specialist, said the better conditions just may save those record yields.

“The last couple of weeks have been superb, with good dry down conditions. We were really concerned moving this late into the season that we wouldn’t have good temperatures to help us out, but temperatures in the 60s and 70s were just what we needed,” he said.

Lee feels better about the yield potentials now, but there is still some damage.

“For the most part, the corn has stood pretty well and so have the beans. I have been really encouraged by that, but I do expect our yields to be off a little from what was projected,” he said.

Those projections called for record yields for corn, at one point, of 157 bushels per acre and soybeans at 62 million bushels, both of which would set new state records. Lee said while he doesn’t think those marks will be hit, not to count out new records just yet.
“I think we are still going to be at record yields. The projected yields were way above record levels, I just think we’ll be off for both crops,” he said. “The challenge now for most farmers is getting it in. Some of the corn and beans are a little wet so they still have to dry those and that becomes the bottleneck in their harvesting. They are just not used to having to dry this much of a crop. But it’s definitely a positive report this go- round.”

Latest crop report

As of Nov. 8, the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service’s (NASS) Kentucky Field Office reported the soybean harvest stood at 61 percent as compared to 88 percent this time last year. The crop condition was reported at 1 percent poor, 9 fair, 54 good and 36 excellent.

The corn harvest was lagging behind 2008 harvest levels as well, with 86 percent of the crop harvested, compared to 99 percent last year.

Tobacco was holding its own as the report noted the “quality of stripped tobacco looked mostly good; however, there are still reports of problems with stalk rot and houseburn.” The crop was rated at 1 percent very poor, 8 poor, 18 fair, 58 good and 15 excellent, according to the Nov. 8 report.