Beans a bright spot during dry season

Ag officials in Mercer and Auglaize counties said they expect this year's overall corn yields to be down 25 to 30 percent due to the drought.

Overall Auglaize County soybean yields will be reduced an estimated 20 percent.

In Mercer County, however, soybean yields may top out above average.

"I've heard 45 - and up to 70 - bushels per acre," said Michelle Stahl, acting executive director for the Mercer County Farm Service Agency, of soybean yields in her county. "The normal is about 50 bushels per acre. We're pleasantly pleased with the bean yields."

Stahl said rain that came after the drought helped soybeans rebound well. However, many have yet to dry out enough for harvesting, making the process difficult.

"We have had a slow bean harvest because of the green stem that's harder to cut through," she said. "It's tearing up the combine cutter bar and clogging up the combines. We need a good frost to kill them."

According to Stahl, between 40 and 50 percent of the corn and 70 percent of the soybeans have been harvested in Mercer County. In Auglaize County, roughly 60 percent of the corn and between 40 to 50 percent of the soybeans are off, said Anita Green, executive director of the Auglaize County Farm Service Agency. Both estimate harvest is two to three weeks behind schedule.

Green said Auglaize County farmers have had a rough time with soybean harvest as well.

"It's more tedious and there's more chances of combine rotors getting plugged and wrapped up and people getting hurt," Green said. "The beans are ripe and they're running into good moisture, but the stalk is green and cutting through it has been frustrating."

Many farmers switched from harvesting soybeans to corn due to the green stalk problem, both Green and Stahl said.

The slow soybean harvest may result in farmers planting less wheat in both counties this year, they said. Farmers typically plant wheat after they harvest soybeans.

The degree to which crops were affected by the drought depended on when and where they were planted, the type of hybrid seed varieties planted and where showers fell.

Farmers are running into much variability in yield amounts for both corn and soybeans, ag officials say.

Green said Auglaize County corn yields range from 40 to 220 bushels per acre and soybeans from 25 to 72 bushels per acre. Mercer County ranges are 80 to 230 bushels per acre for corn and 40 to 75 for soybeans, Stahl said. The Mercer County average for soybeans is about 55 bushels per acre and for corn it's about 175. The Auglaize County average for soybeans and corn is 50 and 167 bushels per acre, respectively.

Some mold problems are present in the corn, which could result in a dockage at elevators when farmers sell their grain.

Some help may be coming for area farmers.

Higher farm subsidy payments this year from the USDA's Agriculture Risk Coverage program will help offset some of the losses, Stahl and Green said. Farmers may also be eligible for low-interest emergency loans for physical and production losses if both counties are declared natural disaster areas due to the drought. Ag officials should learn in the next few weeks if this happens.

Celina area farmer Randy Thomas said he has harvested most of his soybeans and just started on corn. Recent rain would set him back a bit, he added.

"Bean yields are better than what I was thinking ... around 60 bushels with some above and below," he said. "There's some quality problems with some varieties. We don't know if there will be a dockage at the elevator."

New Bremen area farmer Leon Heitkamp late last week said he was almost done harvesting. He, too, said his soybeans look better than his corn.

Heitkamp noted he's seeing 90 to 160 bushels per acre for corn in his area and 30 to 70 bushels per acre for soybeans.

"The crops turned out better than we thought," he said. "We hit some timely rains and that made a difference."