By Karen Braun
FORT COLLINS, Colo., Nov 8 (Reuters) – Most of the U.S. Crop Watch producers reported quicker harvest paces in their areas over the last week as drier conditions set in following a soggy end to October. One more Crop Watch field was completed with strong results, and just one remains.
Since harvest is coming to a close, this will be the final Crop Watch update for the 2021 season. Crop Watch will return in 2022 and the producers have offered some thoughts about next year.
As of Sunday, five of the Crop Watch growers had finished their personal harvests, four more had about a day’s worth of work left and the final two were still working. A round of rain is forecast to move through the Corn Belt mid-week, which could delay some field work.
The Nebraska producer harvested his corn a week ago and the final yield ended at 4.75, above the expected 4.5. That is the sixth Crop Watch corn field that finished above the level predicted just before harvest.
The western Iowa corn is the last of the 22 Crop Watch fields awaiting completion, but that score will easily end at the estimated 5, largely representative of the producer’s overall corn and soybean harvests this year.
The 11-field, unweighted average Crop Watch corn yield for 2021 will finish at 3.86, representing solidly above-average yields. Soybean yield averaged 3.89, also better than average but short of records. Those are on 1-to-5 scales where 3 is average, 4 is above and 5 is record or near record. (https://tmsnrt.rs/3wuKocS)
Those final 2021 yield averages are very comparable with the 2018 Crop Watch results, though only eight producers participated that year. Scores were not as good in 2019 or 2020 due to weather problems.
FARMERS’ PLANS
The Crop Watch producers were asked about their current marketing levels for their 2021 crops. The corn and soybean ranges both span from 20% to 100%, but the 11-producer average for corn is 60% versus 65% for soybeans.
Seven of the 11 reported that their corn marketing was above average for the date, though eight of the 11 had normal or below-normal soybean sales.
The producers were also asked about their current plans for 2022, and 10 said they plan to stick with their normal planting rotations next spring. However, one of the 10 said a couple of corn fields will probably switch to soybeans because next year’s rotation happens to be heavy on corn.
The only outlier is North Dakota, and the current plans are to cut both corn and soybean acres by 50% from the 2021 levels. The producer will plant spring wheat for the first time in six years and will also increase his planting of specialty crops.
All 11 producers plan to return for the 2022 edition of Crop Watch, which will be the fifth running and the second with at least 11 producers.
The following are the states and counties of the 2021 Crop Watch corn and soybean fields: Griggs, North Dakota; Kingsbury, South Dakota; Freeborn, Minnesota; Burt, Nebraska; Rice, Kansas; Audubon, Iowa; Cedar, Iowa; Warren, Illinois; Crawford, Illinois; Tippecanoe, Indiana; Fairfield, Ohio. (https://tmsnrt.rs/3u30PKn)
Graphic- Crop Watch yield scoreshttps://tmsnrt.rs/3wuKocS
Graphic- Crop Watch producers 2021https://tmsnrt.rs/3u30PKn
(Editing by Dan Grebler)
(([email protected]; Twitter: @kannbwx))
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