R-T Photo/Wendell Lenhart
As local farmers finish up their soybean and corn harvests, finding a place to store their crop is becoming a concern. Grundy County Farm Services Agency Director Curtis Crawford said soybean and corn yields are “very good” this year and, thus, storage is at a premium. Efforts to get grain moved has been slowed due to the difficulty of getting rail cars to transport the corn and soybeans. Some farmers have taken the initiative of building additional storage as seen by the construction of several new grain bins in the area. Crawford said most of the area soybeans have been harvested, but a lot of corn remains in the field. Rains at the end of September slowed down the harvest, with some soybeans affected by mold due to flooding conditions. Because of the yields, Crawford noted that grain prices have seen a drop. “They are not what we saw last year, that’s for sure,” he said.
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According to the Agricultural Statistics Service, Missouri corn harvest during the past week increased 10 percentage points from the previous week and soybean harvest was up 18 percentage points. There were 6.0 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending Nov. 2.
Statewide, temperatures averaged 49.2 degrees, which is 4.2 degrees below normal.
Rainfall averaged 0.22 inches statewide. Topsoil moisture supply was rated 1 percent very short, 11 percent short, 79 percent adequate and 9 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture supply was rated 2 percent very short, 16 percent short, 77 percent adequate and 5 percent surplus. Corn harvest was 78 percent complete. Corn moisture at harvest averaged 16 percent.
Soybeans dropping leaves progressed to 98 percent, and soybean harvest was 64 percent complete.
Winter wheat planted progressed to 56 percent. Winter wheat emerged progressed to 34 percent. Cotton harvest was 60 percent complete.
Rice harvest progressed to 96 percent complete.
Fall tillage progressed to 24 percent, 22 percentage points behind the five-year average. Pasture condition was rated 10 percent poor, 35 percent fair, 47 percent good and 8 percent excellent.