High hopes
by Susie Taylor Farmers throughout Ohio have felt generally good about this year’s harvest, even with the extreme rainfall and temperature differences experienced within the Buckeye State’s borders. From dry conditions in the southwest to flooding in the southeast and a bean-killing frost in the northwest to near perfect conditions in the east-central area, farmers are reporting positive feelings and some bumper crops. Nationally, soybean harvest was nearly 71 percent complete, according to figures from the Oct. 18 USDA Crop Progress Report. Ohio soybean harvest was at 70 percent, ahead of the 59 percent mark from a year ago and the five-year average of 68 percent. Just less than 70 percent of the U.S. soybean crop was estimated to be in good to excellent condition. Of Ohio’s soybean crop, 68 percent was rated at good to excellent. As far as corn harvest goes, 44 percent of the corn planted in the United States was harvested as of Oct. 18. For Ohio, 38 percent was harvested, compared to 18 percent a year ago and 30 percent for the five-year average. Seventy-five percent of the nation’s corn crop was estimated to be in good to excellent condition while 72 percent of Ohio’s corn crop was rated good to excellent. Too dry, too wet Heyob, in partnership with his brother, farms 1,100 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, hay and beef cattle west of the Great Miami River. "It’s dry as sawdust here," he said, adding the area of the county west of Cincinnati got no rain when the remnants of hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne made their way through Ohio. "This has been as dry of a fall as I’ve seen in a long time," he said. As of Oct. 6, Heyob said the family’s 520 acres of soybeans were harvested, and they were about a third done with their 560 acres of corn. He’s been pleased with yields. "In this corner of Ohio, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen good soybean and corn yields together, so that will be a first for us. Both crops will probably yield above average," he said. The hurricane remnants weren’t as forgiving for farmers east of Cincinnati. "The guys have had some real hardships along the river," Heyob said. "In the bottom land (east of Cincinnati), they’ve had some fields wash away." Debbie Biehls in Washington County said her family was pretty lucky compared to many of their neighbors. She said they had a 15-acre field of corn in bottomland that the family lost to flooding. "When Frances came through, that field was under water but the water went down and the corn was still standing. We thought we could save it then," she said, "but then with Ivan, water was over the tassles and (by the time the water receded) the corn had sprouted and was molding." She said the family isn’t sure what to do with that field now as the corn is basically worthless and the field full of flood debris, making tillage nearly impossible. "We feel pretty fortunate," she said, adding that many neighbors lost everything to floods. Biehl’s family has a 130-head dairy and they raise all the animals’ feed along with some cash crop soybeans on about 550 acres. The flooded field "was good corn, too," Biehl said. "This was a great year for the crops. We really hated to see it (the corn field) go down like that. But farmers deal with (weather like) that every day." She said the soybeans were extremely dry, in spite of extreme rain from the hurricanes. "We’ve basically had no rain since the hurricanes came through to wash away mud or dust. It’s pretty dry." A bit frosty Andres said about half of the farm’s 1,000 acres of soybeans was hit with frost before the beans were mature. He and his sons farm in partnership and have about 900 acres of corn in addition to their soybeans. What was ripe and harvested before frost made between 52 and 62 bushels as acre. "We’re about caught up with what’s ripe," he said, noting that about half the operation’s soybean acres were planted late because of a wet spring. "Around here we had a lot of green beans when the frost hit so yields will be down significantly on those late beans," he said. Andres said he and his sons had shelled "a little bit of corn just to open up a couple of fields." "We’re going to be getting at (corn harvest) pretty heavy here soon," Andres said, adding that, "We’re going to be late this year. It will be well into November ‘til we’re done (with harvest)." Right now, he’s hoping the weather stays dry to give them a chance to get all the crops harvested and winter wheat planted. In Muskingum County in east central Ohio, harvest has gone better than expected for Tom Graham. Even with the eight inches of rain in August and another nine from Frances and Ivan, Graham’s family operation is looking at about 60 bushels to the acre in soybean yields and up to about 160 bushels an acre in corn. As of early October, Graham was about half done harvesting about 200 acres of soybeans and a fourth done with the operation’s 350 acres of corn. He’s just hoping "the weather continues to hold" so he, his father, brothers and sons can get the fall work done. It’s all in the price Williams County’s Andres said he did pretty well contracting his new crop of soybeans. "I contracted (last spring) 35 bushels per acre and most of my corn gets chopped for silage for a local dairy farmer and we worked out a pretty good price for that." For Hamilton County’s Heyob, "It’s always the case to look back and wish you’d done something different. I sold some corn and beans, but like everybody else, hindsight is better than foresight." A great time of year But, "Harvest is still in the early stages up here." And even though it can be stressful, Washington County’s Biehl said it’s a time the "whole family looks forward to." | |