Tue Feb 09 2010
By JARED ORZOLEK
The late-arriving spring planting season, cool summer and wet fall have left area farmers with rows of damp corn waiting to be harvested.
Yet, this weekend's sunny and dry weather is expected to help improve the condition of the grain.
Corn arriving at area grain elevators has been testing at a moisture content of 23-26 percent, which is three percentage points higher than the five-year average, according to Brent Petersen, general manager of Jewell Grain Center.
In order to be stored in grain elevators, corn must be dried to a moisture content of 15 percent to prevent mold or insects from damaging the grain.
At the Jewell Grain Center, drying is done by heating the corn with hot air fed by natural gas.
"It can be costly for the farmer as it cuts into the price," Petersen said. "We are having to dry everything that comes in."
Petersen said many farmers are waiting to harvest their corn crop, hoping that some dry weather will help reduce the moisture content of the grain.
"A lot of people are hoping the wind and the sun will come out and dry the corn a few more points in the field," Petersen said. "They are hoping Mother Nature works with them a little bit."
Bruce Clevenger, agriculture agent with the Ohio State University Extension Office in Defiance County, said it typically costs farmers as much as 60-75 cents per bushel to dry corn.
"The yields have been good, the price has been relatively steady, but our expenses are up," Clevenger said.
Farmers have a few weeks remaining to leave the corn in the field in hopes that it will dry naturally.
Clevenger said the dry weather northwest Ohio experienced in recent days should help improve the moisture content of the corn left standing in fields.
"After we get past Thanksgiving, the rate we expect corn to dry in the field is negligible," Clevenger said. "Given the nice weather we have had this weekend, we should be nearing the completion of the soybean harvest. We have a long way to go on corn."
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Ohio Crop Progress Report, 90 percent of Ohio corn was mature as of Oct. 25, 9 percent behind the five-year average.
Only 17 percent of corn statewide was harvested, compared to 52 percent last year and 45 percent for the five-year average.
Clevenger said 30-40 percent of local corn has been harvested, which is behind the 60-70 percent harvested at this time in a normal year.
"Normally, we would now be entering the last stage of the corn harvest," he said.
The local soybean harvest, largely finished in recent days, was also late this year due to the damp fall.
This has left some farmers unable to plant their winter wheat crop in a timely fashion, according to Clevenger.
"Economically, farmers need to be done planting wheat," he said.
He said crop insurance policies will typically not cover farmers who plant wheat this late in the year. Wheat plants need to germinate, sprout and take root in the fall in order to produce grain head next year.
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