Wet weather slows 2009 harvest

    Farmers across the county have just begun the fall harvest, a little bit behind schedule compared to previous years. Iowa State University farm management specialist Jim Jensen said that wet crops are one reason farmers are harvesting later than usual.

    ?We are behind on soybeans this year,? said Jensen. ?We can usually plan on being done with the harvest by mid-November. This year, it looks like we won?t be done until late November, and that?s because it?s been wet recently so the crops haven?t had time to dry off.?

    Jensen said that rains late in the year are hard on crops because there isn?t enough heat in the air to dry them like there is in the summer.

    ?Now it doesn?t dry after a rain. When the fields get wet they stay wet,? said Jensen.

    He said that below-average temperatures in September didn?t help matters. He said that a good harvest season features low humidity, a little wind and plenty of sun.

    However, Jensen said that the weather presents less of a problem for farmers today than it did decades ago.

    ?Our equipment has gotten bigger and bigger each year, so when the weather is good, we can harvest much more than we used to,? he remarked.

    Jensen said that one thing that will distinguish this harvest from prior harvests is the large variability in yields from acre to acre.  

    Joe Bauer, who owns a farm a few miles east of West Chester, echoed Jensen?s assessment of excessive moisture in the fields.

    ?The weather hasn?t cooperated this year,? said Bauer. ?For beans, we usually get done a few weeks earlier than this. I think the cool weather and the fact that the last few weeks have been misty have prevented the beans from drying like we want.?

For the full story, see the Oct. 21 edition of The Washington Evening Journal