Thu Sep 02 2010
By JARED ORZOLEK
Northwest Ohio farmers utilized Wednesday's sunny weather to continue the soybean harvest.
Area agriculture experts say that despite the cool and damp growing season, many of these producers will be happy with the soybean yields they record.
"The yields I have been seeing have been in the 50-60 bushel per acre range," said Bruce Clevenger, agriculture agent with the Ohio State University Extension Office in Defiance County. "It's definitely better than last year."
He said yields from soybeans that have yet to be harvested could be less than earlier yields because some farmers were forced to plant beans later in the spring.
"We do have a fair amount of late-planted soybeans, so the yields from those later crops may not be what these early yields are," Clevenger said.
He explained that many fields are still damp and said rain expected to arrive later today could force many farmers out of the field until conditions improve. He noted that the later the harvest takes place, the more risk to the crop.
"Even though the field is wet, the bean itself is drying," Clevenger said.
The late bean harvest could lead to less wheat being planted in Defiance County, as many farmers plant wheat in fields currently occupied by soybeans.
"Farmers want to harvest the soybeans because they want to plant wheat in the fall," Clevenger said. "The fall harvest has a huge impact on how much wheat we grow."
Experts from other area counties report high-yield averages as farmers harvest soybeans.
"I've talked to a few farmers in the area and from what I have heard so far yields have been in the 60 bushel per acre range to as high as the 70s and 80s," said Jim Lopshire, agriculture agent with the Ohio State University Extension Office in Paulding County. "We are seeing yields that we've never seen before and we are seeing more consistency out there."
Lopshire said the Paulding County bean harvest is 60-70 percent complete and said a few dry days are needed to finish the job.
"We are just a little late this year. It looks like a good year for the farmers," Lopshire said.
In Henry County, Dave Schnitkey of the Gerald Grain Center, Hamler, said the harvest is nearly 80 percent complete with some very good yields reported.
"We are seeing some near 50 bushels per acre to as high as the low 70s," Schnitkey said.
Once the bean harvest is complete, area farmers will turn their attention toward harvesting the corn crop.
While good-to-excellent yields are expected, Clevenger said the moisture content of the crop could cut into farmers profit margins.
He explained that the moisture content of corn is currently between 20 and 30 percent, but said corn needs to be stored with a moisture content of 15 percent or less.
He said farmers then have to pay to mechanically dry the corn before it can be stored in an elevator.
"There is a cost right up front for the cool and wet growing season we have had," Clevenger said.
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