Harvest Outlook Remains Positive Across Ohio

Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Derek Niese – Putnam County Things are moving along pretty good over here. On the vegetable side, we're harvesting tomatoes, and they're all starting to turn red. We don't really want them all to turn red at once. We'd like to stretch that harvest out into October if we can. On the crop side of things, the beans are looking good. For the corn, some of the earlier planted fields are starting to burn up. Around here, I think some fields could probably be shelled in two or three weeks. As far as pest and disease pressure goes, everything seems under control in the tomatoes. In some of the earlier planted corn fields, I've noticed what looks like tar spot showing up. I'm not sure whether that's related to spraying, not spraying, specific hybrids, or just the fact that those fields are getting older and starting to dry down. At this point, it's hard to say exactly what's driving it. Looking ahead to harvest, I always enjoy this time of year. More than anything, I'm hoping for favorable weather and no early frost. I'm excited to see some good yields come off the fields. I've done a few kernel counts on corn, and from what I can tell, everything is about where I expected it to be. Greg Ramsey – Ross County I've seen some big changes in the last couple of weeks. For probably the first time all summer, we haven't gotten any rain, and both the soybeans and corn are turning fast right now. We've even got some growers around us with gravelly ground who have already started harvesting a little bit. It's nothing significant yet, but it shows just how quickly crops are maturing. As far as pest and disease pressure goes, we're seeing a lot of grasshoppers, but they don't seem to be causing any significant damage. We've also found a few diseases in soybeans while walking fields, but nothing that appears to be a major concern at this point. I've spent some time checking corn fields, and I'm optimistic about yields this year. I don't think we're looking at a record-setting crop, but compared to the last two years, things look much better. The crop has held on well, and overall conditions have been encouraging. I also think we're headed toward an early harvest down this way. The beans are starting to turn, but it almost seems like the corn is racing to get ahead of them right now. Matt Hartong – Summit County Since the last update, we've gotten our alfalfa seeded and wrapped up that project. We had to wait a little while for the fields to dry out because conditions were a bit wet prior to planting, but after we got it in the ground, things lined up. We caught a little moisture afterward, and overall. We're optimistic about how the alfalfa is going to look. Other than that, things are relatively unchanged across the farm. From a pest and disease standpoint, we really have not seen any issues. In general, I think things look pretty good. Right now, our focus is shifting toward harvest preparations. We're on the cusp of starting to chop for silage corn, and some of the corn we planted at the beginning of May is definitely at least a week out, if not ready to be chopped already. As far as yields go, I haven't really changed my expectations. Everything has been steady across the board for most of the season. Looking ahead to harvest, I'm always excited to see how the corn silage stacks up. Hay production is so dependent on rainfall and weather conditions, but corn has always seemed a little more resilient. I'm looking forward to getting harvest underway and having the corn silage sorted out and stacked up for the winter. Melissa Clark – Miami County We're getting ready for harvest right now. A lot of our time has been spent getting equipment moved around, making sure everything is serviced, and getting ready for the season ahead. It's been dry over here the last couple of weeks, especially compared to where we were after the last update, and the heat has really helped move crops along. I'd say we're probably about three weeks out from harvest. The corn is fully dented, and beans are really starting to yellow up in some areas, so things are changing quickly. We haven't seen any major pest issues ourselves, but there has been some talk about weed pressure. When it comes to yield expectations, I don't think much has changed. I'll be curious to see whether all of the rain we received in August affected pod fill in the soybeans, but overall, we're really happy with how everything looks. Nothing from our scouting suggests the rain was detrimental, and now it's just a matter of seeing what the combine tells us. Looking ahead to harvest, one of my favorite parts is seeing the whole family work together. After spending six or seven months watching the crop develop, it's rewarding to bring everything in and see the kids get more involved as they get older.