Crops Headed For A Tough Harvest

Although it appears the prospects for the producers of porcine products have prettied, yes, lipstick included, that cannot be said for all of the ‘ole MacDonald’s in the country.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported recently that due to a late planting season and a cooler and wetter fall than normal, only 20% of the corn crop is out of the fields vs. an average of 58% during the years of 2004-2008.

“It’s getting scarier. The longer we go, the more mold keeps growing and the more ears fall off. Every day you wait, you lose more money,” said Larry Thorndyke, a farmer with 1,400 acres in Piper City, Illinois who usually has all of his corn in the bin by Halloween.

Additionally, only 44% of the soybean crop is in vs. an average of 88% for the previous 5 year span and the harvest, in total, is proceeding at the slowest rate since the Dept. of Agriculture started keeping records in 1985.

“Most of the farmers’ income is still out there in the field. They’re anxious to get it harvested and anxious to know where they stand for the year”, Loyd Brown, president of Hertz Farm Management, whose Nevada, Iowa (I guess they ran out of names going West) company manages more than 430,000 acres split among 1,800 farms across the Midwest.

"My cherries came in small and late, but the apples did very well. "

My pecans did very well this year...no tropical storm or hurricane winds to deal with.

Pecan trees and limbs snap easily even in moderate winds.

"Wow - that takes me back - growing up I had the opportunity to pick pecans outside Seguin Tx. Hard work but enjoyed the time there. Wish I could move back there."

I picked up pecans for money in my youth.

I believe that all pecans originate from Texas and Northern Mexico.

Something that must also be considered with all of the crops that may not be harvested this year, or those crops that are being harvested with diminished yields: seed for next season.

Not only does our food supply depend upon the harvest, this year's crops are looked to to provide seed for next year's crops. The soybean harvest was largely lost in Louisiana, and you might think that is no problem because the harvest went well in Illinois (it hasn't so far, but for the sake of argument, let's say it did). Problem is that the group (variety) of beans up north isn't grown down south.

One of our neighbors has 3500 acres of sweet potatoes. Less than half has been harvested. They are doing it pretty much by hand right now because the fields are so wet and the quality of the potatoes is suspect (they may not store). This farmer intended to put away X number of seed potatoes for next year. He has less than half of that amount with little hope for making his quota. This is a huge problem and he is not alone. Sweet potato farmers in SE Arkansas are in even worse shape.

We have had a solid week of dry and sunny weather, but there is still water in many places due to the flooding and our rivers and bayous have yet to crest. God willing, we could still get some crops out of the field. I'm not saying that everything is a total loss. What I am saying is that this year is not the only thing to consider.

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