Rain and mud delay crop production

    Local farmers were able to escape the predicted rainfall early this week, but their luck finally ran out Thursday when steady rains fell for most of the day. Friday morning was much the same as damp, rainy conditions prevented farmers from returning to their fields.

    Denny Witthoft, who runs a farm supply company north of Washington, said the rains will set farmers back a few days.

    ?This will probably delay the farmers three or four days, but if we have a few sunny days over the weekend, they could be back out by Monday,? said Witthoft.

    Witthoft said that the moisture in corn was already high, even before the recent rains.

    ?It looks like we?ll have to harvest the corn even when it?s wet because it won?t dry much in the field,? he said.

    Witthoft said that moisture levels in corn normally run between 20 and 22 percent. He said that he has heard of a lot of corn testing at 24 to 28 percent moisture.

    ?We dry it down to 15 percent moisture to store it in the bin,? he said. ?When you have corn that is 25 percent moisture and above, it is very hard to dry.?

    Witthoft said that oftentimes farmers will let their corn dry in the field down to 17 or 18 percent moisture. When it gets that low, the corn can be dried in the bin through forced air without the application of heat.

    ?That wouldn?t work on a day like today,? noted Witthoft. 

    Mark Peck, who works at a farm supply company in Washington, also warned of high moisture levels in corn this fall.

    ?If the moisture reaches 26 or 27 percent, I?d say it takes twice as long to dry the corn as it does when it?s 20 percent,? said Peck.

For the full story, see the Oct. 23 edition of The Washington Evening Journal