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Cool, wet weather hampers harvest
Published 12:05 p.m., October 20, 2009
Cold and wet weather last week continued to hamper Otter Tail County farmers and those statewide as they worked on the fall harvest. The USDA’s weekly crop report for Minnesota said most fields were too wet to harvest last week.
Statewide, less than two days were suitable for fieldwork.
Three percent of the corn crop had been harvested, compared with 17 percent at this time last year and the five-year average of 31 percent. Soybeans were 34 percent harvested, compared with 81 percent last year and an 83 percent average.
The sugar beet harvest, which includes western Otter Tail County and Wilkin County (Breckenridge-Foxhome area) also has been slow. Sixty percent of sugar beets have been harvested, compared with last year’s pace of 77 percent and an average of 81 percent.
A record corn and soybean harvest will do little to help farmers already struggling with low prices and high production costs, a farm economist told the Associated Press.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service forecast is for the second-largest corn harvest on record and a new record for soybeans.
“Neither comes as a surprise, because more acres were planted this year and earlier forecasts also predicted a strong crop,” said Lance Honig, chief of the crops branch for the Washington-based NASS, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Corn production is estimated at 13 billion bushels, up 8 percent from 2008. If that holds up, says Honig, it will be the second-highest production behind 2007, when 13.04 billion bushels were harvested.
The corn crop grew slowly due to cool, wet conditions through much of the spring, raising concerns it might not mature before a killing frost. But in most areas, the crop has matured enough that it won't be hurt by a hard freeze, Honig said.
Corn is grown in nearly every state, but the top five producers are Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota and Indiana. The top corn states are also the biggest producers of soybeans.
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