(Fostoria)– Ideal weather over the past week has allowed the soybean harvest to kick into high gear.
Paul Kassel, a Crops Specialist with the Iowa State University Extension Service, says the breezy, warm, dry weather is excellent for drying down crops. But he says a frost would certainly help some of the soybeans that still have green stems.
Kassel says yield reports he’s been hearing so far have been promising…ranging from the upper 40’s in beans on lighter soils…to the mid to upper 50’s on fuller maturity beans on heavier soils. Kassel says that’s just as good, if not even better, than last year, which say exceptional soybean yields. Kassel estimates about 25 percent of the local soybean crop had been harvested as of last Friday (9/29).
Most of the corn harvest in the region has yet to get started. Kassel says producers that have corn on the ground from the August wind storm should make harvesting that a top priority. He says those farmers will probably incur some extra drying costs by harvesting the downed corn before it’s naturally dry, but he says it will spoil if it isn’t picked soon.
