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Harvest time is now for many local farmers
SIKESTON -- As farmers in 39 northern and western Missouri counties wait to hear a response from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which assessed their drought conditions last week, some Southeast Missouri farmers are busy harvesting corn and tending to their other crops.
"Corn is at the very front end of the harvest season," said Anthony Ohmes, agronomy specialist for the Mississippi County University Extension office. "As far as overall crop, if you didn't lose it this spring and didn't have to replant, it looks good."
While many farmers have begun harvesting their corn, for some the conditions are still too wet, Ohmes said.
"They're testing it. Corn south of East Prairie has been cut. A lot of the earlier varieties are being cut," Ohmes pointed out.
While the crop looks decent now, in May and June farmers weren't sure how the season would turn out.
"Corn started pretty rough," said Eddie Adams, a research specialist for variety testing at the Missouri Delta Center in Portageville. "We got it up, and then we had lots of rain. We even had some hail damage in our testing plots in Charleston and Oran."
Ohmes admitted agriculturalists really won't know exactly how good the corn crop is until the bottom line is written. But of the plants Ohmes has seen, they look good and healthy and weren't harmed by any major winds, he said.
While farmers in the southeastern part of the state seem to be a little more fortunate this year than those in the northern and western parts, their crop is not perfect, Ohmes admitted.
"It's definitely been dry here, and some corn has suffered," Ohmes said. "We had some timely rain in June and July, but if we could've gotten a rain at the end of July, it would have helped the later planted corn. We've also had some nitrogen loss in the corn."
As for soybeans, current conditions are various throughout the area, Ohmes said. Some soybeans are in the first bloom and some already have pods on them, he said.
"Soybeans look good," Adams noted. "Like the corn, we had a lot of early rain when we were trying to plant and a lot of water. If we don't have any insect problems, it should be OK."
Ohmes said he hasn't spotted any insects on soybeans yet -- other than foliage eaters. Soybean farmers need to watch out for pod worms and stink bugs, which eat the pod of the bean, he said.
Based on conditions Aug. 1, the Missouri Agricultural Statistics reported that corn production is forecast at 314 million bushels, 11 percent above last year's drought-diminished harvest but 9 percent below the production of two years ago.
Soybean production is forecast at 167 million bushels based on Aug. 1 conditions. That would be a decrease of 2 percent from last year and 11 percent from the 2001 crop.
Missouri Agricultural Statistics also estimates soybean yields of 34 bushel statewide and 34 bushel for Southeast Missouri, down a bushel from last year.
For corn, yields are expected to be 110 bushel statewide and 145 bushel in Southeast Missouri, which is the same as last year.
Other predictions for area crops include the state yield for rice, which is forecast at a record high of 6,100 pounds per acre, up from 50 pounds from last year's record high. On the state level, cotton is predicted to yield 726 pounds, which is 70 pounds lower than last year, but it is above the five-year average.
Meanwhile, soybean farmers in the area will keep hoping for a good crop -- and irrigating, Ohmes said.
"At the stage soybeans are at right now, they still need about 2 to 3-1/2 inches of water," Ohmes said. "So keep irrigating and pray for a good rain."