OTTAWA — The fall corn harvest has started — sort of. In part because of the weather, the corn harvest in Franklin County is about a week behind compared to previous years, said Darren Hibdon, Frontier Extension District agricultural and national resources agent. There has been some cutting but Hibdon said he doesn’t expect the corn harvest to crank up until next week. Because of the weather, Hibdon said he expects the yields to be wildly variable and that it will be difficult to figure out an average. The rains were beneficial to some stands of corn but the spell of dry weather came while some corn ears were still maturing, he said. As a result, yields could range from 20 bushels per acre to 120 bushels, he said. However, most yields could range from 50 to 60 bushels, which would make it a lackluster harvest, he said. Normally, Franklin County farmers hope for harvests to surpass 100 bushels per acre. However, soybeans, which is the other major fall cash crop, could be a different matter, he said. The rains occurred at a good time for area soybeans, he said. As a result the soybean harvest will likely exceed past disastrous years and may be a little better than normal, he said. That will be especially welcome to producers because normally, soybeans command a larger price that corn, so area farmers would rather have better bean crops than corn.
Wednesday, Sept. 18, 5 p.m.
