Perfect weather pushing harvest toward completion

What a difference a couple of weeks of sunshine and above-normal temperatures can make on peoples’ outlooks.

When October slipped into November, Hutchinson area farmers joined others across Minnesota concerned much of the 2009 crop, especially soybeans, would be left in the field after a month of rain and cold temperatures.

Now, almost all soybeans are safely in the bins and corn is popping out of the fields as quickly as the combines can pick the ears and transfer the kernels to waiting grain trailers and trucks.

“We made excellent progress this past week in the Hutchinson area. I’d say the majority of the soybeans are harvested and their moisture was down to as low as 12 percent,” said Dave Schwartz, an agronomist for Hutchinson-based Gold Country Seeds.

The opinion is shared by Nathan Winter, an agriculture productions systems educator for McLeod/Meeker Extension in Hutchinson.

“We are moving along at a pretty good pace,” he said. “(Farmers) are cleaning up soybeans left earlier in low spots and corn is drying down well. I think farmers are very thankful that we’ve had above-average temperatures and no moisture in November.”

Until the past week or so, molds in the corn, such as mycotoxins, were a major concern. Recent warm, dry weather has helped, but the problem hasn’t entirely gone away, Winter said.

Find more information about dealing with mold on corn in the agriculture section of the Leader’s Web site.

(Terry Davis is a Hutchinson Leader staff writer. E-mail him at davis@hutchinsonleader.com.)