Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009

Double whammy for area farmers: Soggy corn fields, delayed soybean harvest

The double whammy of late spring crops and wet fields could have farmers on their combines well into the holiday season.

Tom Jett, manager of the St. Clair County Farm Bureau in Belleville and the Madison County Farm Bureau in Edwardsville, said he's been hearing one common word from metro-east farmers lately.

"Frustrating," Jett said "It's been one of those years. It started wet in the spring, and it has been wet ever since. I've had a lot of farmers tell me it's been the wettest season they've ever seen. We all knew it was going to be a late year because everything was planted late. They all know it's going to be a long fall, and I think they are just anxious to get out into their fields and get started."

According to the Illinois State Climate Office, Illinois State Water Survey, the metro-east has received nearly 8 inches of rain since Oct. 1, which is about 6 inches above average for this time of year.

The majority of Illinois crops are ready for harvest, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers are ready to either start or continue their harvests but wet, cool conditions are making it difficult and keeping moisture levels in the crops high.

Temperatures statewide averaged 43.7 degrees, which is 11.7 degrees below the normal state average for this time of year.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Illinois farmers have harvested about 11 percent of the corn crop. In 2008, 30 percent had been harvested by mid-October.

About 13 percent of the state's soybean crop has been harvested, compared with about 60 percent harvested by mid-October 2008.

Dave Biver farms between 800 and 1,000 acres of land in St. Clair County.

"The crops that I see are standing pretty good, and that's important," Biver said. "But the weather from here on out will only get worse, and the crops will go down as the weather gets worse. Every day, the yield goes down. Every day, there's more product on the ground, whether it's beans or corn."

Soybeans don't stand up well to harsh weather, so farmers are eager to get them out as soon as they are ripe.

Corn can stay in the fields a bit longer.

"You can harvest corn through a foot of snow a lot easier than you can harvest beans through a foot of snow," Biver said. "We're anxious to get the beans out because they are a higher risk in bad weather."

The fields are wet, but the beans will have absorbed a lot of the rain, too. Without warm and sunny weather, farmers may have to harvest beans that have a higher moisture content than usual and mechanically dry them before storage, which adds to the cost of harvesting the crop.

Because the corn crop was planted late due to a very wet spring, the corn is ripening late.

"A lot of it isn't ready to go anyway, and farmers are delaying most of the corn while they wait for it to dry down," Jett said. "As long as we don't have a big wind storm come through and knock it down, it can stand out there for quite a while.

Biver has harvested between 10 percent and 15 percent of his fields. During a typical year, he expects to complete his annual harvest by Nov. 10.

"We knew that wasn't going to happen this year because we planted late," he said. "But this year, we probably won't be done by Thanksgiving."

Madison County farmers are bit further ahead than St. Clair County farmers, Jett said.

"Madison County farmers were able to get in their fields a little ahead of St. Clair County farmers in the spring so their crops were ready a little earlier, and they could get into their fields to get the crops out a little sooner and before the rains got here."

Not only are farmers eager to get their crops out, they also need to get the winter wheat sown.

Last year, nearly half of the state's winter wheat crop was in the ground by mid-October. This year, wet fields have limited planting, and only 13 percent of the expected crop has been planted, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"Normally, you'd hope your winter wheat was in the ground by now," Biver said. "Normally, wheat goes in behind the beans, and the beans are still in the fields. If you can't get your beans out, how can you get your wheat in?"

If farmers can get the crops out of the fields in the next few weeks, yields are expected to be about average.

"I don't think it will be as good as it was last year," Jett said. "I think a lot of people are wondering about mold and disease and what might be out there. Northern Illinois has seen a lot of mold problems because of the wet season. Fortunately, I'm not hearing a lot of that here locally.

"Yield wise, nobody's bragging. I'm not hearing about great, off-the-chart yields, but it's not a poor crop either. I'd say it's about average."