As we are moving very, very close to a first frost heading into this weekend, CIMG Ag Director Gale Cunningham reminds us that once the first frost hits, the pace of this year’s harvest will start moving at an even quicker pace than what’s been shown so far.
Cunningham says that upon the arrival of the first frost, “Any corn or beans that’s not quite ready will mature very quickly; because the frost will kill the plant, meaning that any final nutrients the plant had been supplying to the corn or beans will be finished.”
As of the end of this week (Oct 16th), Cunningham says information he’s hearing from the State Conservation Office indicates that Vermilion County Soybeans are about 60% done, with corn being between 50 and 60% done.
In looking once again at early reports of corn yields coming in a bit lower than hoped, Cunningham says that now farmers are reporting situations “on both sides of normal.” You might have one farm that got lucky during the planting and growing seasons producing a higher yield than expected; while another farm just a few miles away, that had the much talked about “too much rain early and not enough rain during crucial parts of the growing season,” coming in below the anticipated yield.
As for the soybeans, Cunningham says that thus far nobody seems disappointed, and there’s been very little to complain about. He says solid yields of bushels per acre in the 70s or upper 60s are being talked about, with those occasional jackpots of soybean yields above 80 bushels here and there.
To hear any of Gale Cunningham’s updates, just go to vermilioncountyfirst.com, and click on the link at the end of this story: for “AG CHECK WITH GALE CUNNINGHAM.”
