Kent Lock 1, Blogger

July 31, 2012

2 Min Read

As mentioned a couple weeks ago, what is being reported in the media is probably worse than the reality of the drought and its effect on the U.S. corn crop. There will be corn fields in west central Illinois that yield 175 bu./acre. And there will be many fields yielding less than 50 bu./acre. The best looking fields of corn are in the few areas where the corn was planted in late March and received timely rains. Corn that followed a 2011 corn crop will yield one-fourth of the 2011 yield and one-third of what it would have yielded if it had followed a 2011 soybean crop.

A neighbor chopped a field of corn for silage that was likely to be a low grain yielding field. That neighbor left some yield test strips for the crop insurance adjusters to determine grain yield. I would estimate the yield to range from 80 bu./acre to zero in some areas of the field.

I think the U.S. corn yield will be in the high 120 bu./acre range, which is 20-25% below an expected 2012 corn yield.

Even the deepest rooted plants around are rolling their leaves mid-day to conserve moisture. I have driven by these trees (do not know what kind they are) for many years and have never seen them look so thirsty. The newest leaves roll up every afternoon that it is hotter than 90 degrees, which is frequent. Any hand tool that gets left in the sun is too hot to handle by noon.

The non-agricultural media leads its followers to believe that there will be almost no corn at harvest time. I have already read suggestive solution like stop eating things with high-fructose corn syrup as an ingredient. This nonsense is supposed to solve many problems like making more corn available for ethanol, fewer obese people, less diabetes, less mercury in our blood, and more lovin' for everybody.

But then, nothing compares to having Christmas trees with odd shaped tops 10 years from now due to the drought's effect on Christmas tree seedlings. Kent yawns after watching this. http://www.kansascity.com/2012/07/30/3732775/for-christmas-trees-a-crispy-end.html

 There are several similar reports from around the Midwest creating worry about the odd shaped Christmas trees that we are likely to find 8 to 10 years from now.  As a corn and cattle farmer, I am disgusted by the waste of time and digital storage space on such an unimportant topic as Christmas tree shapes in the future.

Marie had a good week at the National Jr. Hereford Show in Nebraska.  She placed 6th in senior showmanship, and her heifer Foxy was division champion. Carol was there to cheer her on while Renee and I stayed home and cooked eggs outside.

About the Author(s)

Kent Lock 1

Blogger, Farm Industry News

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