Published: October 16, 2009 10:15 pm      

Dealing with challenges

Cass County farmers, ag experts predict long harvest season

Farming in 2009 has offered its share of challenges to Cass County farmers.

For some farmers and agricultural experts, it doesn’t seem like those challenges are going to let up any time soon.

Dale Coffing, the Cass County Farm Service Agency executive director, is predicting delays for the harvest season, stemming mainly from the weather.

“The crops went in generally late, growing season was somewhat cool and the crops, especially corn, hasn’t matured as we would like to have seen it,” he said. “For the most part, though, I think it will be ok.”

Steve Sullivan agreed the weather farmers faced in the spring is back again this fall.

“The late planting pushed the crops back,” the Cass County Farm Bureau president said. “They did not have as much time to grow and mature and now the cold weather is shutting down maturity, so we’re not getting fully developed corn. Several samples of soybeans coming out of the harvest are small with a greenish color. So we are having a late and wet harvest.”

Logansport farmer Rob Baker, who works the fields with his brother John, said the weather has become frustrating.

“I’m way behind, it keeps raining and it won’t stop,” Baker said.

Even though they have started to harvest their fields, only about one-third of their soybean crop has been finished.

“We’re a good two weeks behind on a normal year,” he said. “We are normally wrapping up with so beans right now. ... I think we have pretty decent beans out there for the weather we have.”

For most farmers, the cool weather has them thinking about time schedules and even colder weather in the months to come.

“Looking at how much acreage needs to be covered and knowing December is coming, you get kind of antsy,” Coffing said. “The cool damp weather hasn’t allowed the fields to dry down.”

While some farmers weren’t able to start planting until late spring this year, Sullivan pointed out several farmers went out as soon as they had a chance.

Those farmers who planted early in the season, before the damp spring weather moved in, have already hit the fields hard, he said.

As of now, corn is coming out of the field with anywhere from 5 to 10 percent more moisture than typically seen at this time of the year, Coffing said. This also points to a longer harvest season.

“It’s going to stretch out,” he said. “The weather hasn’t been cooperative this month to get much done.”

So why the longer season?

Coffing blames the wet corn on the summer weather. As the summer months progressed, farmers were short growing degree days, he explained. Farmers hoped to have some warmer weather at the end of the growing season to help finish the crops.

“We had a week or so of hot weather towards end of the growing season, but we really needed two or three weeks to dry up.”

Coffing expects farmers to get back to work as soon as the fields will support the machinery, regardless of the grain’s moisture content.

According to Sullivan, some grain will have to be dried because of the moisture content.

The higher moisture percentage still in the fields may push some farmers back even more, Sullivan suggested

“Many will wait,” he said. “Some may wait until November or December.”

Baker and his brother John may be two of the farmers out harvesting in November.

“I can see us picking in late November,” Baker said. “That hasn’t been done since the late 1970s. Who knows, we could be out there longer than that.”

While Coffing said it is too early to offer any numbers on projected yields for Cass County, he said compared to last year, the numbers may be slightly shorter.

“By no means a failure,” he added.

Overall, Coffing is predicting what he calls an average year.

He said farmers ending up with 50 bushels of soybeans per acre or more and 160 to 170 bushels of corn per acre will have a decent season.

Sullivan said the evaluation on the season has predicted a less quality of crop than compared to previous years.

Coffing said one of the positive aspect of the 2009 harvesting season includes soybean yields.

For the most part, Coffing and Sullivan believe farmers are pleased with the season.

“I haven’t heard too many guys complaining,” Coffing said.

Sullivan said the growers are pleased because they are going to have a crop this year. In addition, the costs of raw materials are decreasing right now.

“The outlook is that we’ll make it,” Sullivan said. “We’re not broke yet.”

• Denise Massie is a staff writer at the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at (574) 732-5151 or denise.massie@pharostribune.com