|
What
kind of crop do we have?
Send a link to a friend
[AUG.
11, 2003]
There has been lots of press on the potential size of the
corn and soybean crops, both in our area and nationwide. Recent
field inspections lead some credence to predictions of outstanding
crops in some areas and dismal failures in others.
|
|
Crops have
deteriorated quickly in the western areas of the corn producing
region, as soaring temperatures and little rainfall have come on the
heels of almost ideal conditions. Sometimes the little adversity
early in the season helps. Many areas of Missouri and Kansas have
gone from great to poor in a couple of weeks, as roots did not go
into the ground very far early in the year, due to adequate
moisture.
Crops to the north
and east of us are at the other end of the spectrum. Too much water
has caused very late planting and slow crop development. As recently
as three weeks ago in central Wisconsin, you had to look for corn
that was over waist-high. Most of it was closer to knee-high.
Southern Illinois has
had the double whammy of very wet conditions, leading to late
planting, followed by very dry conditions. We have to remember that
there aren't many growing areas that are blessed with the soil types
that we have in Logan County.
[to top of second column in
this article]
|
What about our
growing area? Well, the corn kernels that are going to be there at
harvest are already there. That doesn't mean that everything there
will make it to harvest. Statements about the crop being made are
very premature, in my opinion. We could have hail, wind, early frost
or standability problems that might reduce yields.
Our corn yield
potential looks very good at this point. Most ears have 14-16 rows
of kernels around, which isn't spectacular. The ears do have very
long rows of kernels that show yield-calculator yields of about 175
to over 200 bushels per acre.
On the soybean side,
it is way too early to tell. If you inspect soybean plants, you are
hard-pressed to find many well-developed pods. In general the August
rains will make or break soybean yields, and that should hold true
again this year, with September rains required as well.
As the old saying goes "the proof's in
the pudding." The yields will be best measured in the bin or
calculated from scale tickets.
[John
Fulton]
|
