Editors' Notebook

OMAHA (DTN) -- The calendar page has turned to November. (If yours hasn't, you better get on that.) Trees are dropping more and more of their foliage. We've had to break down and turn on the furnace more than once. And in a "normal" year nearly three-quarters of the nation's corn crop would be in the bin, according to USDA's crop progress report.

However, the 2014 growing season has been anything but average. For some, there was a wet spring and late planting. For some, an extremely wet spring/early summer and hail and replanting. For some, the best weather they can remember, with just right amounts of rain and warmth at just the right times leading to better-than-average crop development.

Soybeans have finally "caught up" to average on the USDA report, with 83% harvested as of Nov. 2, equal to the 2009-2013 average. But it always seems to be the last fifth or so that is a bear to get in the bin. We'll see how soy harvest plays out through November.

We asked our email group of reader/consultants if they were done with harvest yet and how yields had fared. Answers ranged from delighted to despondent.

Let's start with delighted... and grateful.

Gerald Gauck of Ripley County, Indiana

"We've really been blessed this year," wrote Gerald Gauck of Ripley County, Indiana. "We're done and the neighbors are getting close. Best crops we've ever raised. Very, very thankful."

That's nice to hear. Good news and gratitude! It doesn't get any better than that. Unless you get to take the winter off, as Crawford McFetridge of the Finger Lakes region in New York plans.

"I am usually the last in the area to finish. Well, here at McFetridge Farms we have been done for 10 days!" he wrote. "May do some custom work. But not in a big push on that either. Taking the winter off. No need to get all bummed out about crap(py) crop prices. Start marketing the end of March. Have fun guys!!"

You have to love that enthusiasm. But short and sweet reports are also good to see. All Scott Wallis of Princeton, Indiana, had to report was "yes, we are done. Both corn and beans yielded within 2% to 3% of last year."

Also in Indiana, west-central to be a bit more precise, Adam Stonecipher's family farm finished harvest Sunday, Nov 2. And he has noticed that those farther west in his state seem to be farther along with harvest.

"It's interesting," he wrote, "as I've been visiting with bank clients from west-central Indiana through central Illinois, I'm finding that it seems there is more done the further west you go. I traveled west of Champaign last week and was surprised at how little crop was still in the field and even more surprised at how much fall tillage work had already been done. As you get closer to the Illinois/Indiana state line, there is still a lot of crop out there."

Adam also noted that yields in the two "I" states were better than average. "Unless my clients are lying to their banker (that never happens, right?), yields continue to impress in this region," he wrote. "In general, beans seem to be 5-10 bpa/acre better and corn 20-30 bpa better than 5-year farm averages that we typically use in projected budgets at the beginning of the year. It also feels like a lot of people are filling up any and all bins and putting off marketing decisions on what they can store, despite the recent rally in prices."

In Cherry Valley, Arkansas, Will Nicholson just finished last night (Nov. 3), after rain delays and equipment problems. [We had] "like 100 acres of beans when we started today with 80% chance of rain the next two days; we pushed hard and we hope to finish today. After two breakdowns, we got lucky and got a mechanic out at 4:30; with 20 acres left. We got all done last night. A lot of neighbors finished up too."

In Logan, Kansas, Doug Zillinger finished harvest Sunday, Nov. 2, with some pleasing results. "Got done yesterday with the milo. Yields from 38 to 76 bu to the acre and feeling real good about them. There were some spots that got more rain east of mine that had 100 (bu) yields. ... Hay yields were running 3.5 tons per acre dryland which is really good in any year. That stuff grew two feet while we were cutting it due to a late season rain." Now that harvest is complete, Doug said he will be fertilizing wheat and maybe some milo ground for next year. He may also attack some conservation work on terraces before it freezes.

Now for those for whom the end of harvest is still "out there" somewhere. When asked, "Are you done with harvest?" David Kjelstrup of Underwood, N.D., replied "In my dreams." Brandon Whitt from Batey Farms in Tennessee was equally flippant. "Ha! I wish!" was his note.

Pete Bardole of Jefferson, Iowa, wishes too. "I wish we were done," he wrote. "We still have about 30 acres of beans left and 600 acres of corn to go. The beans may have to wait for frozen ground. I watched some neighbors trying to get wet spots harvested and they were only able to get some, not all, that was left.

"It seems if it is going to rain anywhere in the state it will be here. Two weeks ago we got a half an inch of rain and it kept us out of the field for nearly a week. The corn is drying down and the ground is also it just seems very slowly. We are making progress it just feels very slow."

Like many other producers in the U.S., Kenneth Zahm of Marne, Michigan, is done with soybean harvest but not corn.

"We finished soybeans on Saturday," he wrote, "but there are still some beans to run here in western Michigan. We started running some corn today, yields are good but moisture is still running around 30% and test weights around 50 pounds. Quality is going to be an issue."

Justin Premo of Columbus, Wisconsin, has also finished with beans and moved on to corn. "Beans are done. We are just starting on corn doing high moisture and trying to find dry corn to haul to town," he wrote. "The corn is ranging 19%-25%, and late planted was 30%-plus as of last Monday. With the recent wind events it's starting to break off tops and some stressed corn at the base. So it's time to take it if it's ready or not."

If you'd like to join our email reader/consulting group, send me a note at cheri.zagurski@dtn.com.

(AG)

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