Harvest yielding a mixed bag
BUCYRUS — In real estate, they say location counts for a lot. In just about every other human endeavor, success often comes down to timing.
But in agriculture, both timing and location can make the difference between a good harvest and one that could've been a whole lot better.
Nobody who farms for a living in north central Ohio is complaining about the weather this harvest season, now in full swing. Dry, sunny and even warm days in late September and early October have made getting combines into the field a breeze. But the benefits of good weather go beyond just that.
"We've had good weather, fantastic weather, and that's dried the crops up nicely. It's all kind of connected," said Pat Hord, CEO of Hord Livestock.
The company, on Ohio 98 south of Bucyrus, grows crops on about 7,500 acres.
Ron Dentinger, vice president of grain for Sunrise Cooperative, which has operations from the U.S. 20 corridor in northern Ohio down to the U.S. 30 corridor in the north central part of the state, said he's heard about corn coming in with a moisture content of 20 percent or lower.
"And that's unusual," he said.
'Too wet early, too dry late'
While corn of 20 percent or lower will save on drying costs, the optimum moisture for harvest is just a little bit above that to avoid problems with fallen stalks and dropped ears. Considering how wet the region was early this past summer, the fact that producers are talking about unusually dry crops in October is somewhat remarkable.
"It was too wet early and too dry late. Everything made it out of the ground OK, but the main problem was the ground was so saturated," said Rick Niese, of Niese Brothers Farms near Crestline.
His operation put 12,000 acres under the plow this year: 8,400 acres in soybeans and 3,600 in corn.
"The earlier we put it in the ground the better for us as far as yield. Our earliest planted corn was by far the best," he said.
The entire region was blitzed by unusual amounts of rain in June, from 7.44 inches in Mansfield to 9.12 inches in Bucyrus to 9.64 inches in Marion, according to the National Weather Service and Weather Underground. Even more damaging than the amount of precipitation, however, was its frequency. When it wasn't raining, skies were often still cloudy and temperatures were cool, limiting drying.
Although later rains varied widely with the hit-and-miss nature of summer storms, precipitation across the area dropped off sharply during the second half of July, with the scarcity of rain continuing through August.
"That's what did it," Dentinger said of the early rains. "We had drowned out spots, and the nitrogen was leached out of the ground. The corn just ran out of gas."
Soybeans improved
Soybeans appear to be better off this year, in large part because they're blessed with a shorter growing season than corn.
"The beans have exceeded everybody's expectations. The corn has been a little more variable," said Crawford County Commissioner Steve Reinhard.
Reinhard farms 1,400 acres, broken almost evenly between corn and soybeans. As for the rains, he said they didn't set his crops back a whole lot.
"For the most part, we were able to get the water away," Reinhard said.
Hord said: "Some areas had water damage, but they say rain makes grain. The dry didn't seem to impact the crops too much. The beans did really well. Exceeded our expectations."
Speaking in generalities, Dentinger echoed the observations of Hord and Reinhard.
"Regionwide, the beans are better than most people thought. Corn is just the opposite: It's not going to be as good as people thought," he said.
Dentinger said Sunrise is seeing bean yields averaging around 50 bushels an acre, but with a lot of variability, with some fields coming in at 30 bushels and others at 70. Hord Livestock managed 60 bushels an acre; Niese Brothers was at 57.
Although they haven't finished bringing in their corn yet, Rick Niese said their crop may average 175 bushels an acre. Hord is looking at 200 bushels.
Winter wheat
The summer's winter wheat crop, however, was by and large another story.
"There was some damage with the wheat. About half was of milling quality," Reinhard said.
Hord had roughly the same experience, he said.
Cheryl Turner, state statistician for the Ohio field office of the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, said this year's winter wheat yield in Ohio dropped seven bushels to 67 bushels per acre from last year's record yield.
"Mild temperatures in early spring were good for crop conditions until heavy rains throughout June had a significantly negative effect on the crop. Standing water in fields delayed harvest compared to the five-year average, and elevated levels of vomitoxin, scab and sprouting in the wheat," Turner said.
"Wheat harvest finished up in early August, behind schedule and with significant quality issues related to the wet weather."
Beyond yield trends, this fall's harvest of soybeans and corn has one other thing in common throughout all the counties of north central Ohio: It's moving very quickly. If farmers aren't already finished cutting down their beans, they will be soon, and activity on corn is really picking up, with no indications that it's going to be interrupted.
"It's both earlier and drier than usual," Dentinger said of the harvest. "We're about a couple weeks ahead of schedule, and we've got a real nice weather forecast coming in."
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