View from the Cab: Another '9' year
As we wait for another harvest season to begin, I can’t help but wonder how late in the year this could last.
Will we be eating Thanksgiving leftovers on the go or hearing Christmas songs blaring from the combine radio? I am a tad weary of any year ending in a “9” after the late, cold and wet harvest of 2009. It was just ten years ago when many of us got stuck in the field and waited for hours in long lines at the area grain elevators. At least the yields were decent that year.
I recall many cold days in 2009 wanting to sit in the cab of the grain truck to take advantage of the heater. We all had Carharts, stocking hats and gloves handy along with the coffee. That was one of those falls when you would never break a sweat while waiting for another load of grain. Heck, we didn’t even start until around Oct. 10 that year.
Sounds like the grain dryers could get a workout this season as moisture is expected to be high in much of the corn. Yields will probably be variable at best. In fact, the very early results coming in point to a mixed bag of results with great corn in certain parts of a field and bad corn not far away. One grower with early corn reportedly experienced plenty of yield swings across the field as his yield monitor constantly went back and forth from high to low.
Hardly any soybeans have been harvested here in Illinois, although there were rumblings of cutting in the southern part of the state. By the looks of things around here, growers won’t be venturing out into the soybean fields for at least a couple of weeks.
As of last week, crop development continued to lag in the weekly crop progress and weather report for Illinois, although the recent stretch of warm weather should help bring the crops along. More than 50 percent of the state’s corn was dented, compared to 95 percent last year and 87 percent for the five-year average. Only eight percent of the corn had reached maturity. Soybeans coloring were only at three percent, compared to 71 percent last year and 46 for the five-year average.
We had a great time attending more seed appreciation dinners last week. It is always good to catch up with other farmers over a delicious meal.
(The View from the Cab is powered each week by Petersen Motors of Fairbury)
