Harvest drags on for many

GIBSON CITY – Many farmers like Greg Kerber have plenty of harvesting left to do before closing out 2019.

Kerber is about a third done with corn as he took out the early planted corn before switching over to soybeans.

“I finished up what I had of non-GMO varieties so I wouldn’t have to do anymore cleaning out but we’ve got a long way to go yet,” Kerber told The Central Illinois Farm Network last week.

Heading into the season, Kerber set the bar fairly low on yields but he has been pleasantly surprised as corn and soybean yields have exceeded his expectations. Kerber estimates around 60 percent of the beans and 40 percent of corn is harvested near Gibson City in Ford County.

He has harvested one field of June planted corn which had decent yields but high moisture content at 26 percent.

“We’ve done that before,” Kerber said. “In 2009, we would have killed to have corn down to 26 percent so we’ll handle it.”

Kerber’s biggest challenge moving forward with the 2019 harvest season is finding a place to load trucks. It can be difficult to get grain from the combine to the auger wagon and get it loaded onto a truck.

“You have to have somewhat forgiving ditches and understanding neighbors to do all that and try not to drag too much mud out onto the road.”