Spring rains have varying effect on fall corn, bean crops

Although rains received this spring in Jackson County have pulled the area out of an ongoing drought, they have also had a varying effect on the county’s fall crops, with corn not doing as well as last year’s record crop and soybeans just starting to come in.

Both Dennis Holliday, agronomy manager at Jackson Farmers Co-op in Holton, and David Hallauer, Meadowlark Extension District crops and soils expert, noted that while many farmers are reporting “solid” corn yields this year, they are no match for last year’s bumper crop. Much of the reason for this year’s lower crop, they said, is the heavy spring rain.

“A lot of farmers are seeing about 50 bushels an acre less than what they were seeing last year,” Holliday said. “There was a lot of rain, a lot of drowned-out spots and terrace channels, and places where water seeped out of the ground. It’s kind of hard to make up for areas where there just isn’t any corn. Overall, though, corn’s probably better than what they thought they were going to get.”

This year’s average per-acre yield for corn in Jackson County, Holliday said, has so far been “about 140 bushels, plus or minus,” which is better than what some farmers who saw some of their fields under water in late spring were expecting.

“Just looking at the corn crop in the first part of June, it looked pretty sick about that time,” he added.

Hallauer noted that many area farmers are “pleasantly surprised to some degree” with the corn yields, particularly with farmers apprehen­sive about planting corn so late in the spring.

“I’ve heard some very solid yields, but last year will be tough to beat, so yes, I’d say they are a little off on the corn side,” Hallauer said. “There seems to be quite a bit of variability, even within fields as well as across the county.”

Hallauer also noted that variabil­ity in yields is likely to be a factor in this year’s soybean harvest, based mainly on when this year’s beans were planted.

“I’ve looked at some early-planted beans that have podded very well right next to some later-planted beans that will be a little lower in yielding,” he said. “How much has yet to be seen, but the pod number is definitely different.”

Holliday, on the other hand, says it may be too early to tell how this year’s soybean harvest will go down in the record books.

“Most of the beans that are coming in — the earlier beans that were planted just before the mon­soon — have been in the 35 to 45 (bushels per acre) range,” he said. “Last year, beans were averaging close to 50 overall. But until we start getting some of these later beans in, we’re not going to know what kind of a harvest we’ll have.”

Although that “monsoon,” as Holliday put it, brought the vast majority of the state out of a long-term drought, drier conditions have set in, and the U.S. Drought Moni­tor has added the Jackson County area to a list of areas in the state that are “abnormally dry.” How that will affect winter wheat plant­ing, Hallauer said, remains to be seen.

“Anytime we plant and it’s ex­cessively dry, we’re going to be concerned,” Hallauer said. “It may affect planting plans this fall to some degree, maybe delay things a little if farmers are waiting on moisture, but for many, they have a rotation that they like or a reason for planting what they do when they do. So I think for the most part, they’ll try to stick with that, even as the moisture situation is on their mind.”

Holliday said he hasn’t heard a great deal of concern from farmers over the recent lack of precipita­tion, but that could change.

“I think it’s probably early to worry about that,” he said. “We’ve got a long way to go before we’re planting anything. There’s still time to get more rain between now and then. But we’re in an area where the rain either goes south of us or north of us. Right now, I don’t think guys are worried about the moisture side for next year yet. But if we go all winter without any pre­cipitation, well, they’re going to start talking a little more about it.”