Rain haves and have nots showing up around the state

Kyle Nietfeld

We have been receiving some decent rains here the last two weeks which is really helping the crops mature. We get an inch or an inch and a half here, an inch there. It’s probably, on average, been about an inch a week. It’s been really nice.

The beans are coming along. I think they’re pretty well done flowering and setting pods now and finishing filling the pods. We started getting those sunny days without that smoke and they really seemed to bush out and take off that’s for sure.  

The corn is really coming along. There’s not much tip back and it looks like everything pollinated really nicely. All the ears are filled out and looking really good. It sounds like silage chopping is probably coming up here about the first week of September.

I think they’re calling for temperatures around 95 or 96 here Thursday, but we’ll have enough moisture. We won’t see any corn rolling up or anything I don’t think.

We did see some gray leaf spot in the corn, but not anything horrible. In the beans we haven’t really seen much. There’s probably some insect pressure, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be much of an issue. The double-crop soybeans are looking really good. If we could keep the frost away, we probably have a record for double-crops the way it’s looking.

There have been good opportunities for spreading poultry manure between the rains. We’ve got a couple more chicken houses and we’ll be done with them and some turkey barns that pop up when the birds go out. It’s all coming along really good.

Lawrence Onweller

We’re getting dry again. We’re just getting small rains once or twice a week. I actually dug a hole yesterday down four feet deep and we have no subsoil moisture. It’s starting to take the top end of the corn and beans off right now. We could use some more rain. Like normal, it’s getting towards the end of August where we get the extra test weight and kernel depth on the corn and fill up the size of the beans too and it is getting dry. The big rains have been going around us.

Now we’re talking about having temperatures in the high 90s this week. My wife mentioned she had heard somebody talk about 100 — we haven’t had a 100-degree day here in a long time in Delta, Ohio. Even if we do not hit 100,  this week is supposed to be hot.

Corn is still at least two weeks behind. It hasn’t gained any. With all the smoke we’re not getting the sunlight that we typically would and that might even be making it a little further behind.

This hot weather may speed stuff up. In the past we have had crops just give up and die. We’re nowhere near that as far as being short of moisture yet, but it is taking the top end off. When you buy your seed corn, you’ve got potential for 500 bushels. Then as soon as you open the bag, it’s just downhill from there.

Doug Miller

Things look really good. We’ve had ample rain for this time of year and after this week with the heat we’re going to have we’ll be ready for another one. When you have to cut the grass about every five days in August, that means we’ve got soybeans filling and corn finishing out so we can’t complain there.

The last few rains have been pretty generally getting Fayette County, but there could be some areas that didn’t get as much. I know some areas have gotten a lot more rain than what we have and you can really see the moisture stress. 

We did spray the corn with fungicide and beans with fungicide and insecticide. We’re going to have a few weeds in the beans this year. I have gone back in and spot sprayed the obvious ones but it is too late to do that now, so we’ll just live with what we’ve got.

I think we’re going to have a very good corn crop with the checks we’ve done and seeing how well it filled out. Some of the corn is filling out to the tips, some isn’t, but where it isn’t, it’s less than an inch of tip back.

Every year after the beans come up, it seems like it takes them about a month to really get going and they look ugly. Once they get rolling, they look a lot better. They look really good now. The double-crop beans are coming right along too. It’ll all hinge on how early the frost is, so stay tuned.

The crops are behind, but the heat we’ve got coming might get them more on schedule for what we’re accustomed to.

Jeff Magyar

We have been getting rains and we’re still in good shape for moisture in this area. Everyone in this part of the state has enough moisture now, or too much. 

Right now, beans are starting to show a lot of stress. There’s white mold, there’s sudden death and I think there’s also some Phytopthora issues. The areas that are yellow and stressed definitely have a problem or two or three problems. In our area I’d say 3% to 5% of the fields are in bad shape, but to the north it’s very widespread. 

It’s too late to do anything about the problems in the beans. With white mold, as soon as you can see damage to the leaves, it’s already too late. 

Crops are behind. Sweet corn is just becoming ready in this area. I would be surprised if we have any beans that go in September. I think corn is two weeks behind normal and I would think beans are probably about the same.

I am starting to see marestail coming through bean canopies. There’s just a few spiking through the canopy right now. I’ve talked to some guys about yields and they’re kind of disappointed. Corn is 14 and 16 rows around when normally there’s a lot of 16s, 18s and 20s. Corn is at best average to slightly above average. Beans will be average to below average. The beans have really stretched out, but the pods are so far spaced most people around here don’t expect much.