Crop report shows timely rain helped
The expected soybean harvest is up 8 percent over last month's estimate. Minnesota farmers should average 40 bushels an acre on their soybeans. The corn harvest is estimated at 164 bushels an acre, up 2.5 percent from the August outlook.
The state's two largest cash crops were struggling at midsummer. Six weeks of hot, dry weather threatened yields. University of Minnesota grain marketing specialist Edward Usset says then the weather changed.
"As tough as July was, August was wonderful," says Usset. "The temperatures moderated, we've had a lot of moisture. Corn-growing weather, is what it was."
For many farmers the improved weather will mean above average yields. Still, it can't undo the worst of the drought damage. Some farmers in central and northern Minnesota will qualify for federal disaster relief.
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Sherwood King farms near Canby, where temperatures went over 100 degrees in July. Since the weather broke, he's had five inches of rain. Soybeans have seen the biggest improvement, corn less so.
As tough as July was, August was wonderful.
"They're going to be all over the board," says King. "We've got some real good corn and we've got some corn that's pretty well shot. It's going to be a real tough year to really guess anything until you get out in the combine."
Crop conditions have also improved nationwide. The U.S. corn and soybean harvest is expected to be the second largest on record. The nation's corn crop is estimated at 11.1 billion bushels. The soybean harvest is expected to be about 3.1 billion bushels.
The large crops continue to pressure prices downward. After the USDA released its harvest estimate, corn prices dropped about 2 percent.
Some of that price drop will be cushioned by a federal subsidy program. The lower prices fall, the more it pays farmers. Right now, farmers will get roughly a nickel a bushel for their corn from the program and nearly 20 cents a bushel for their soybeans.
