Eye on Crops, Aug. 12, 2011

Milford, NE

We had two nice rains this week in our area: ½ in. on Saturday, and just under 2 in. this morning. Dryland corn in our area is dented, and the rain will help finish it out but the heat and dry weather took the good yields already. Our dryland corn will range from 100 to 140 bu./acre in my scouting estimates today.

We have faced no major problems but many minor ones that just put too much pressure on the crop during the growing season to attain high yields. Irrigated fields look good but I think we will just miss the 200-bu. mark. The temperature has adjusted to the 80s daytime, 60s at night. If we finish out the next 30 days with near-normal weather, some corn should be harvested by Sept. 15.

Soybeans welcomed the rain and look good. They are almost at full pod and look to fill nice. With another rain in the next week or two I would estimate 40-50-bu. dryland yields to mid-60 bu. on irrigated crops. Despite the extended dry and heat pattern, we encountered no setbacks.

Our harvest equipment is ready, and we are working on the storage bins now. With my yield estimated, I will start to look at pricing a few more bushels the first of September. This week, new-crop corn finished at $6.56, soybeans at $12.46.