Weather always a concern for farmers

August 01, 2008 10:25 am

— OTTUMWA — Severe weather has washed away profits for some southeast Iowa farmers.
Drier weather is needed “to get the heat units up. What we really need is typical August Iowa temperatures,” said Bob Wells, Mahaska County Iowa State University field specialist
He said that the biggest concern is getting enough heat units to mature the crops before the first frost
“If we hit the first frost, we are going to see lower yields and a decreased quality of the product,” he said.
The weather definitely has an impact, said Tim Kaldenberg who farms in Monroe County.
“The biggest problem is with soybeans and corn and the diseases that have come from the excess water,” he said, adding that crops haven’t grown like they should.
Showing shallow and poor root systems, crops are “starting to turn yellow, and some of them are getting diseases,” he said.
Wapello County farmer Doug Black said the weather is always a concern. “What we need now is some dry, hot weather. It’s been too wet for too long.
“It’s been a pretty mixed up season so far,” Black said “It’s been way too wet obviously, but the corn is looking decent; it’s the beans I’m concerned about.”
Black said soybeans are not up to average height for this time of the season and that could be due to the late start in planting and the bad weather conditions.
“It’s been rough on the crops this year,” he said.
Wells said most Iowa farmers are about three weeks behind a normal growing season in the state because of the flooding and cool weather.
“It’s hard to say right now what kind of harvest we will have. There are so many things that could go right or wrong between now and then.
“I believe producers are going to show some economic loss, but there will be a chance for some farmers to get their insurance dividends out of it,” Wells said.
Black said that it depends on how hard the fields got hit with the weather. “I would guess that the average loss is around 20 to 30 bushels per acre.”
Kaldenberg is hoping for at least an average crop, which would be around 140-160 bushels per acre.
“I think the corn will be decent, not outstanding by any means, but decent,” Black said. “Maybe 130-140 bushels per acre.”
Farmers also worry about production costs.
“When you look at the production cost of corn and soybeans this year compared to last year, it is 35 percent higher,” Wells said. “There is a lot more money invested this year in production costs per acre.”
“We really need 85 degree days for two to three weeks, with sunshine and some drying days to get the crops to grow more,” Kaldenberg said.
Scott Niles can be reached at (641) 683-5360 or via e-mail at sjniles@mchsi.com.

Photos

Mark Newman/The Courier Corn, like this crop in Ottumwa, looks to be doing pretty well. But for those who know what to look for, area fields are causing concern.