Ohio crops gain momentum in early June

Derek Niese- Putnam County

Things are going pretty well. Corn and soybeans are all planted, and we’ve been side-dressing our early corn. The crop looks pretty good, and overall, everything is progressing the way we’d like to see it.

We do have more rain in the forecast, and I think it’s going to be needed. Right now, crops are growing pretty well, and some timely moisture would help keep that momentum going.

We had one field of corn where we had to do a little spot replanting, but other than that, everything looks pretty nice, to be honest.

In addition to the row crops, we’re continuing our tomato planting schedule. We stagger plantings throughout the season, so every week we’ve got a certain number of acres and varieties that need to go in the ground. We’re already about halfway through this week’s planting and are working to finish the rest before the next rain arrives. If everything goes as planned, we’ll wrap up this week’s tomato planting today and be done for the week.

At this point, things are moving along well, and I’m not complaining.

Greg Ramsey – Ross County

We’re still marching ahead here. Right after the last update, we got about 3 inches of rain over the course of a few days, so we were pretty pleased with that. It was nice to see things grow a little bit and progress.

This season has really gone from one extreme to the other. We went from awful, dry in April to cold, wet in May, and now to hot and dry, and there just hasn’t been much consistency in the weather.

The corn is starting to take off, and the beans are growing. I would say things are going as they should, but we’re definitely starting to see some stress in the corn from both the extreme dry and the extreme cold. It’s showing some symptoms of those big pendulum swings in the weather. The crop is growing, and it looks good, but it’s almost in the “awkward teenage years” of the growing season right now. We’d like to see it really take off, and I thought it would be a little further ahead than where it is right now.

I was able to finish side-dressing corn. One thing we’ve noticed is some weeds breaking through, especially on soybean ground. In talking with retailers and others in the area, it was almost like the ground was so dry that the chemistry didn’t necessarily work the way it was supposed to.

I’ve also been looking at wheat fields, and the wheat crop looks fairly good. If I had to guess, I think we’ll probably be a little above average this year. I haven’t noticed any insects, and head scab still doesn’t look like it’s going to be a big issue, so we’re hoping for a good-quality wheat crop.

Matt Hartong – Summit County

This past week was a real change for us because we finally had absolutely perfect weather to get in the fields. I don’t think we’ve ever made as much progress in a single week as we did over the last several days.

We were able to get all of our soybeans planted, finish up the last of our first-cutting hay, and get the majority of our corn in the ground. At this point, we’ve only got about 60 to 65 acres left to plant, and then we’ll be done. After the challenging weather we dealt with earlier this spring, it feels good to be in this position.

I think being patient and waiting for those ideal conditions really paid off for us. We were prepared when the weather window finally opened, and we were able to move quickly and get a lot accomplished.

The crops are looking good so far. The corn we planted toward the beginning of May, especially some of our silage corn, has excellent stands. I was just commenting to my wife about how quickly it’s growing now. It really likes the humid weather and hot sunshine. Honestly, I feel like you can stand there and watch it grow. It’s starting to look really nice.

We did get a little bit of rain on Saturday, but it wasn’t much. If we received a tenth of an inch, I’d be surprised. Even so, after the progress we’ve made lately, it’s hard to complain. Compared to where we were a few weeks ago, we’ve really made a lot of progress, and that takes a lot of stress off.

Melissa Clark – Miami County

Things are going pretty well here. We had a wet end to May, but the first week of June dried up pretty well, which gave us a chance to finish up corn spraying. They’re side-dressing now, and I think they’re almost done with that, so we’re making good progress.

We received over a half-inch of rain on Saturday, and with the warm weather, our crops have really seemed to take off over the last few days. After some of the conditions we dealt with earlier this spring, it’s nice to finally see some growth and momentum in the fields.

The end of May brought a tremendous amount of rain. Within three to four days, we received around 5 to 6 inches. There was a lot of rain that came down in a short period of time, and as a result, there was some replanting across the area. We had one field that needed to be replanted, and there were several others in the area that experienced similar challenges.

Even with all that moisture, things dried up a lot last week. Looking ahead, it sounds like we have several chances for rain this week, and with temperatures climbing, we’re really hoping to capture some of that. As much rain as we received at the end of May, we could still use some good, timely rainfall over the next week.

After planting on and off since early April, we’re ready to move on to the next phase of the growing season. At this point, unless disaster strikes, I think everybody is done replanting. We’re ready to put the planter away.