Early harvest shows promise
By Jerry W. Kram
The first fields of barley amd peas are being combined and canola are being swathed, and so far farmers are seeing decent yields, said Mountrail County Ag Agent Jim Hennessy.
Early planted crops suffered a little from dry weather in the spring, but rain in June and July allowed yields to bounce back. Later planted early season crops benefited a lot more from the rains, Hennessy said.
“We’ve got a pretty fair crop coming in,” Hennessy said. “I won’t say it’s a great crop, but it’s decent. It’s not top yielding, but the quality is good. As far as the barley goes, we have decent test weights. It’s not super high yielding but it’s a good crop. As far as peas go, they are running decent too, 40 or 50 bushels (per acre).”
Canola is being swathed to dry before combining can begin. Hennessy said early stands of wheat are three or four days from being ready to harvest.
Late season crops could be “phenomenal” according to Hennessy. The July rains came at just the right time for late season crops like corn and soybeans. However, the season isn’t over for those crops.
“But – we need some rain,” Hennessy said. “The soybeans need an inch of rain and so does the corn to make a good crop. If we could get that inch of rain we could see 50 bushel soybeans and the corn crop could could be better than 140 bushels. But if it doesn’t rain, it could be quite a bit less. We could lose at least 10 bushels plus test weight.”
