Harvest numbers higher than expected

JIM FALL/DAILY FORUM
While fewer acres were harvested due to rain-induced prevented planting, Consumers Oil still took in enough corn that they had to utilize ground storage.

Despite almost a full year’s worth of rainfall during northwest Missouri’s critical early farming season resulted in almost 45,000 acres of corn and soybean crops being included in prevented planting programs, the 2015 outcome has exceeded most early expectations.

While many local farmers were able to get the majority of their corn crop planted before the constant rains set in during May, others were delayed in their planting. And most of the soybean planting was also delayed.

The phrase “prevented planting” became commonplace for a few months, and had growers concerned enough that they attended meetings about how prevented planting claims worked and how to plan according to their farms’ needs.

Nodaway County had 666 farms report prevented planting situations, representing a total of 28,543 acres of corn and 15,180 acres of soybeans, according to Nodaway County FSA Executive Director Tim Dreier. Those prevented planted acres were equal to 16.4 percent of the total crop that Nodaway County growers usually plant.

According to data collected by the Nodaway County FSA, Nodaway County saw 9.78 inches of rain in May, 5.43 inches in June, and 13.96 inches in July, making it the third wettest July in 30 years.

After continued rainfall, fields that did see planters were covered in inches of water and once again had growers concerned that the eventual harvest would have little, or nothing, to offer.

But other than waiting and some replanting, there was little growers could do about the flooding in their fields.

Early in the harvest season, northwest Missouri lagged the state in getting crops out of the fields because of still-wet fields and delayed maturity.

However, as crops have come out of the fields, the general consensus is that the yields were better than were originally expected.

“Guys who got in early and planted, that crop turned out good,” Dreier said. “That planted a little later was still mostly better than expected.”

Dreier said he’s seen 110-120 bushels-per- acre corn, with some coming in at 140-150. Soybeans coming in at 50 to 60 bushels per acre.

“Of course, there were some bad spots, but for the most part it was decent,” he said. “It can’t compare to 2014, but it was still better than we all thought it would be.”

Although there was an original delay to the area’s harvest, it has still been very timely.

“Yes, beans were planted late, but no early hard freeze allowed beans to mature, which helped the yields,” Dreier said.

Consumers Oil General Manager Harold Spire said he thought that late start in this corner of the state was actually beneficial.

“The late start that we got was good because it allowed other parts of the state, and even in Kansas, to get done so there were fewer lines to wait in (when hauling grain to larger facilities),” Spire said.

“Once we got started, we had some 20-some odd days of straight harvest, with a one-day break here or there, and then a couple more good weeks,” which he said contributed to the timely finish.

“The amount of crop we had to harvest was impacted by the prevented plantings, so there was less to harvest, and less bushels mean less time in line,” he said. “More people stored on their farms first this year.”

Though harvest was down from last year, Spire still got in more corn than he had the capacity to handle at Consumers Oil.

“We had great weather, everything dried out, it was better than anybody expected, even yields,” he said.

As of Nov. 16, soybeans are 94 percent harvested, both in northwest Missouri and statewide, coming in ahead of last year’s 88 percent and the five-year average of 91 percent that same week.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Statistics Service released November crop forecast highlights last week.

Missouri is expected to come in 10th place for total corn production with 457 million bushels, the fourth highest in state history. Missouri’s estimated average yield is 145 bushels per acre.

Of the 3.3 million acres of corn planted statewide, about 3.15 are expected to be harvested.

Missouri is estimated to come in eighth in total soybean production with 199 million bushels, a total production that is down 62 million bushels from 2014.

Missouri’s expected average yield is 43 bushels per acre, the fourth highest on record.

Of the 4.7 million acres of soybeans planted, about 4.62 are expected to be harvested, which is the fewest since 1996.

“USDA-FSA reported over 1 million acres of prevented planting for soybeans and over a half a million for corn,” said USDA-NASS Statistician Bob Garino. “So, acres planted for corn and especially soybeans are down this year.

“Yield-wise, it’s turned out to be a pretty good year for both crops,” he said. “Nothing like last year’s record, but among the best in state history.”