WEATHER NOT HELPING FARMERS
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 -- 10:23 AM
It?s been a tough year for farmers. And, while milk prices are actually showing some signs of improvement, they have a new worry: the harvest.Wisconsin producers planted the most expensive crops of corn and soybeans ever, now they're sitting in saturated farm fields.
"Depending on the field, we're seeing up to 25% moisture on soybeans, so they're above where you'd want to have them for storage," says Clark County UW-Crops and Soils agent Richard Halopka. "There's a small amount of corn coming off right now for high moisture."
In a typical year, the high-moisture corn harvest would be around 25% complete; this year, we're closer to 5%. As of October 27, only 25% of the state's soybeans had been harvested compared with 82% one year ago.
And, another concern is mold.
"October presented ideal conditions - a lot of fogginess, high humidity - that just let that moisture grow on those ears of corn," he notes.
Now, Halopka stresses ?all is not lost? if mold is present, but it makes proper harvesting techniques that much more important.
The UW-Extension Grains Team has scheduled an emergency ?webinar? to discuss urgent harvest, storage, and feed management issues for this year?s crop. It will be Friday morning from 8 to 10 a.m. Locally, you can participate by attending the session at the Clark County UW-Extension office at the Courthouse here in Neillsville.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.