Blog

Oct 26, 2020

Key Issues: Production

Author: Cathryn Wojcicki

  “Our corn crop is good this year. Yields so far are above to well above average.   This morning, we got enough snow to cover the deck. The higher moisture contents due to this could keep them out of the field for a bit. Otherwise, conditions have been good.   “We already finished harvesting soybeans and switched back to corn end of last week. In all, we have about seven to ten days of harvest left.”   – Addie Yoder, Missouri farmer     “As of last week, we were about 35 percent finished with corn harvest and 80 percent done with soy. Our corn yields are good, and I am surprised by how well the soybeans did considering how wet August and September were. Hopefully, we can wrap up by Halloween or early the week after that.”   – Lowell Neitzel,  Kansas farmer  

Oct 19, 2020

Key Issues: Production

Author: Cathryn Wojcicki

  “The next five days will be even more interesting than the last. Forecasts call for one to three inches of snow tonight. I haven’t seen an amount yet, but Thursday holds the potential for snow, and we could get a full foot on Sunday.   “The good thing is that, if we can run most of tonight until midnight or one a.m., there will only be about 80 to 100 acres left standing.   “It is interesting. We have combined two corn crops of 16 percent or less moisture corn in five and a half months.   “To date, the harvest has gone well in terms of weather and not having the challenges of the last two years. That has been a blessing.   “This year, corn is 13.5 to 17 percent moisture with good test weights, for us, above 56 pounds. Our fields on the higher ground did well with above-average yields. The fields that we are in now couldn’t handle the water and have reduced yields. There was flat out too much water.”   – Randy Melvin, North Dakota farmer   “Corn harvest is coming...

Oct 13, 2020

Key Issues: Production

Author: Cathryn Wojcicki

“We have about 800 acres of corn left to harvest and, from what we are seeing, yields range from 20 bushels per acre over average to average. The corn has been consistently wet though, with moisture around 18 percent. So, we have had to dry the corn this year.   “Our farm always plants side-by-side trials of corn. The weather event the night of the derecho this summer showed which varieties best withstood strong wind.”   – Jim Raben, Illinois farmer     “Right now, we’re cutting beans. The lowest corn yields that we have seen are in the 150 to 175 bushel-per-acre range. Most of the corn acres seem to have done average or better. The weather is great right now, and we just keep going.”   – Patty Mann, Ohio farmer

Oct 5, 2020

Key Issues: Production

Author: Cathryn Wojcicki

  “We are done with soybean harvest and planting cover crops on old bean ground. Next, we’re starting to harvest some high-moisture corn today or tomorrow.   “The corn is drying down well. We are anxious to get rolling and see what we have out there. The warmer-than-normal weather has helped dry down the crop. So, we should have a pleasant week to harvest, if we can keep the breakdowns away.   “The dryness from August hasn’t let up at all. Combine fires are in the back of everyone’s minds. We almost had one at the end of soybean harvest when a bearing that was going out on the combine-created embers. We stopped, put them out and made repairs.   “We’re weaning calves, and this has slowed down corn harvest. We plan on moving cows into corn stalks the minute we have a field or two harvested.”   – Andy Jobman, Nebraska farmer     “Things are decent. It looks like a majority of fields will have better than average yields. We’re still harvesting, but the weather has been...