Tremont Mail

Harvest 2021 Update

Since the first day the combines were able to get into the field this season, there has been almost a non-stop flow of work to be done. Harvest 2021 is moving fast this year, especially for farmers who have corn to harvest. The corn has dried down really fast. Some farmers are finishing up harvesting their corn already. Soybeans aren’t moving at quite the same pace as corn is and are actually in need of a little bit of rain. September was a dry month for Central IL in terms of rainfall. A lot of soybeans are too dry right now, causing many farmers to hope for rain. 

I had the opportunity to have a conversation with an employee of Progressive Ag Services who explained what he has seen throughout this year’s harvest so far. He explained, “The corn is and has been ready to harvest. It is getting to the point where farmers could border it being too dry, especially for the guys that didn’t spray late season fungicide. There are some stalk issues also this year, so it needs to come out before the plant falls down or drops ears.” For soybeans, “There’s some guys cutting beans, but when they are testing moisture, many farmers are finding that the crop is too dry. When beans are that dry the farmers are losing money. So, most guys are waiting for rain to put moisture points back into the beans. Beans harvest moisture will fluctuate up and down, while corn’s harvest moisture just keeps getting drier.”

Going into harvest, crop prices were predicted to be higher, the rainfall was said to be critical to soybean yields, and overall weather conditions were a concern for corn yield. It was predicted that farmers were still going to be able to make a profit on their crops despite the recent rise in the cost of equipment. Before harvest season began, we knew that the corn crop had pollinated well, and that weather is always going to be a factor in the result and schedule of harvest. According to the University of Illinois Farmdoc, the current daily cash price for soybeans in Central Illinois is around $12.23 per bushel. The current daily cash price for corn is about $5.20 per bushel. From the most recent Illinois Crop Progress and Condition Report published by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) the percent of corn that is mature is up 13% from the 2016-2020 average. The amount of soybeans harvested is about 1% less than the 2016-2020 average. This report was published on September 26, 2021. The condition of the corn reported was: 21% was excellent, 51% was good, 23% was fair, 4% was poor, and 1% was very poor. When compared to last year’s harvest, 6% more corn is labeled as excellent and 1-2% less corn is labeled as poor or very poor. On the flip side, the current condition of soybeans was reported as: 20% was excellent, 52% was good, 22% was fair, 4% was poor, and 2% was very poor. When comparing soybeans to last year’s harvest, 7% more are labeled as excellent and about the same amount as this year are labeled as poor or very poor. It is good to keep in mind that the soybean numbers may change a little bit because of the amount that needs to be harvested and how the quality of the crop will depend on the weather. 

This first week of October offers some hope to soybean farmers with a chance of scattered rain and some lower temperatures in store. The rain will benefit the soybean crop and give farmers a chance to catch up from how busy the harvest season has been so far. It has been a successful harvest so far, which will hopefully continue for our farmers as they finish harvesting this season’s crop.