About 63 percent of the national winter wheat crop is up
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Winter wheat producers are happy with the early progress of their crops.
About 63 of the country’s total winter wheat crop has emerged, the USDA’s Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin for the week ending Oct. 28 says. That figure is up by 10 percent from last week.
In Colorado, where the state’s winter wheat is about 85 percent emerged, producers are pleased with how the crop looks so far.
“We’ve had excellent moisture since planting, the crop looks absolutely fantastic and we really couldn’t ask for better emergence right now,” Chris Tallman, a producer from Brandon, Colo., said to Farms.com. “Generally, we get hot and dry temperatures in October. The weather being damp and cool is a little strange for us, but it’s really helped the winter wheat along.”
But rain continues to delay some corn harvests.
U.S. farmers have combined about 63 percent of the national corn crop, the USDA says. That number is up from 49 percent last week.
Farmers in Illinois have completed 89 percent of the state’s corn harvest, but wet weather is starting to affect yield, said Aron Carlson, president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association.
“Yields have been pretty good, but where it’s bad it’s really bad,” he told Farms.com. “We’ve just had way too much rain. I farm in five counties, and our northern fields received about an inch of rain last night. But our southern fields got more than three inches of rain.
“We can’t do anything today. It looks like we’ll get two more days where we can harvest until the rain comes in again for three or four days.”
Farmers are also progressing with their soybean harvests.
Growers have combined about 72 percent of the national soybean crop, the USDA says. That number is up from 53 percent last week.
Producers in North Carolina have finished about 32 percent of their state soybean harvest.
The beans look good despite severe weather challenges, said John Fleming, president of the North Carolina Soybean Producers Association.
“We got a dry spell in July that damaged some early beans,” he told Farms.com. “We also dodged two hurricanes. Our later beans are looking better than the early ones did. I would guess yields are somewhere between 50 and 55 bushels per acre.”