Sioux City Journal, IA
05-16-07
Hornick area farmers dodge (wet) bullet
ome farmers still waiting for fields to dry
y Tim Gallagher Journal staff writer
No comments posted. | Share delicious digg newsvine | Small | Large
SLOAN, Iowa -- Jim Olson kept one eye on the ground, the other skyward
Monday afternoon as he finished planting his 1,200-acre corn crop one mile north
of Sloan.
A brief rain fell a couple of hours after he completed his work.
"We got a limited amount of rain, thank goodness," said Kurt Ross, agronomy
marketing manager at Western Iowa Co-op in nearby Hornick.
A half-inch of rain could have doomed dozens of farmers around Sloan and
Hornick, many who, unlike Olson, have idled their planters all spring. A 4-inch
rain the final week of April had just about dried when a 3.5-inch rain came last
weekend. Water remains in most ditches. Many fields feature ponds, not
planters.
"It's as wet as I've seen it," Ross said.
Olson and his father, Larry, consider themselves lucky. They got their corn in
without having to replant.
"The neighbor went out about noon today and had to go back inside. It was too
wet," said Jim Olson. "We had some mudding, but we negotiated through those
areas."
The Olsons started planting corn the final week of April. That early corn has
emerged, as has 36 percent of Iowa's crop. The father-and-son pair finished a bit
later than normal and expect to start on 1,200 acres of beans this week.
"We usually try to finish (corn) by May 10," said Jim, who mixed herbicide while
his father dumped the last of the corn seed into planter boxes. "We got threeand-a-half inches in that last batch of rain (last weekend) and the soil is finally
getting just right. As you go west, the ground is OK. East of here it's more clay
and it doesn't have the drainage."
Critical corn date
Areas south of Sloan and Hornick toward Onawa and Blencoe might be wetter
yet as they recover from rains last weekend that forced the closing of Interstate
29 near Missouri Valley. The Blencoe area, which has an ethanol plant in the
beginning stages of development, has endured two straight summers of drought.
Now, some farmers can't get their corn planted.
Iowa State University Extension experts often target May 15 as the final date
to plant a corn crop to achieve maximum yields. A report Monday disclosed corn
planted up to this Saturday can reach 99 percent of its expected yield.
That won't matter if a farmer can't get into the fields this week.
"In our area people will be able to plant corn later this week," Ross said. "We will
see switching of corn varieties if they have later-season varieties already."
Corn replanting efforts will be aided by South American production which
reached the U.S. too late for northern farmers. Ross said there will be replanting
around Hornick, a place that also hasn't seen much -- if any -- soybean planting
to date.
Prices on the Chicago Board of Trade for both corn and soybeans jumped 10
cents Tuesday on news of wet weather in western Iowa and dry weather in Ohio.
July corn traded at $3.73, while beans moved at $7.80.
Ross predicted the soybean crop won't be planted until early to mid June in areas
south and east of Sioux City. Bean yields generally don't suffer significantly when
the crop is planted in mid June.
Corn, however, nears the tipping point, making this week crucial. The shower
that sprinkled Hornick with .15 inches of rain Monday dumped 1.2 inches on
areas north of Danbury.
"We would have had significant acres not planted had we gotten a half-inch to an
inch of rain," Ross said Tuesday. "We held our breath last night. It didn't look
good."
Thankfully, he said, the rest of this does. Chances of rain are minimal through
Sunday.
77 percent planted
The National Agriculture Statistical Service reported Monday that 77 percent of
Iowa's corn had been planted. That's roughly one week behind schedule. Thirtysix percent of the corn has emerged, 2 percent ahead of average.