Sat Nov 07 2009
By JARED ORZOLEK
The northwest Ohio corn, soybean and wheat crop has faced challenges from hard rains, large hail and marching insects, but area agriculture experts report a large portion of local crops are growing well.
In Defiance County, Bruce Clevenger, agriculture expert with the Ohio State University Extension Office, said the corn crop is well-established.
"Corn has entered its period of rapid growth and has gotten is summer color," Clevenger said.
He explained that much of the corn crop was growing well prior to recent heavy rains and said the plants have responded well to recent fertilizations.
Clevenger explained that the heavy shots of rain have impacted the soybean crop more than corn.
"The extra rain slowed down the beans more than the corn," Clevenger said.
The agriculture expert explained that some Defiance County beans have a yellowish color rather than the ideal green due to the plant's grown stage or the extra rainfall.
The Defiance County wheat crop is nearing its harvest stage, according to Clevenger.
"Early varieties may be ready for harvest in a week to 10 days. We should be well into the wheat harvest by mid-July."
Clevenger said wheat yields should be good across the county, explaining that the threat to the wheat and corn crops caused by armyworms has passed.
Above average amounts of armyworm moths arrived in northwest Ohio in April and May. Carried by weather systems, the moths flew north from southern states like Kentucky and lay eggs in fields or clusters of grass.
When the eggs hatched, the larval worms ate green vegetation such as corn and wheat until they then entered a pupation stage to transform into adult moths.
The insects are only dangerous to crops during their larval worm stage, but are farmers were able to combat the worms with insecticide.
In Henry County, growing conditions have been favorable in the northern two thirds of the county, but heavy rains have dampened fields located south of the village of Hamler, according to Tom Brubaker, plant manager at the Royster-Clark grain elevator in Hamler.
"From Hamler south we have gotten too much water. Every time it rains we get an inch and a half," Brubaker said.
He explained that while many farmers in northern parts of Henry County have benefited from good growing conditions, some in the south have had to re-plant soybean fields one or more times. He said despite the replanting efforts, some fields will still be marked by spots with poor growth.
In Fulton County, OSU Extension agriculture educator Greg LaBarge said growing conditions have been good so far during spring and early summer.
"Overall, things are pretty good in Fulton County. Other than some spots with hail damage and water damage crops are looking pretty good," LaBarge said.
The extension educator said corn and soybean crops are growing well and wheat is nearing its harvest stage.
LaBarge also said most crops are free from problems caused by insects such as armyworms.
"Right now, everything seems to be pretty clean. We don't see any problems with insects at this point," he said.
He said 80 to 85 degree temperatures, combined with modest rains from mid-July through mid-August will help maximize yields for farmers.
LaBarge said farmers will be impacted by the high costs of fuel and fertilizer, which has been driven up by the cost of oil and will cut into profits from high current commodity prices.
In Paulding County, extension agriculture educator Jim Lopshire said crop conditions vary widely from the northern part of the country to the south.
He explained that growing conditions have been good in the northern part of the county, but added that heavy rains have forced farmers in the south to re-plant crops one or more times.
"We have had the good, the bad and the ugly this year. It's quite a transition between the northern and southern part of the county. We have definitely hurt by excess water in the southern part of the county," Lopshire said.
"Must farmers I have talked to have talked about doing some re-planting. We would like some dry weather."
He said while the wheat crop is nearing harvest, yields have been hurt by armyworms.
"It's hard to tell where our wheat yield will be. Our yield potential has been hurt," Lopshire said.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Ohio growers planted an estimated 3.2 million acres of corn in 2008, an 8.7 percent decrease from 2007 when 3.6 million acres were planted.
Ohio follows national trends as the USDA reports 87.3 million acres of corn were planted nationwide, down 7 percent from last year.
Despite the decrease, corn planted acreage is the second highest since 1946, behind last year's total of 93.6 million acres.
In Ohio, planted wheat acreage has increased 25 percent from 820,000 acres in 2007 to 1.1 million acres this ear, according to the USDA. Nationwide, wheat acres are up nearly 5 percent.
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