A Day's Wages for a Loaf of Bread

Cooler Weather May Slow Harvest

September 12, 2009

Omaha.com (Grand Island, Neb.) — Below-normal temperatures have slowed crop development across Nebraska. That could pose some problems for Husker Harvest Days next week in Grand Island.

In early April, Roger Luebbe, who manages the grounds at the show site, planted 600 acres of corn. Everything was going smoothly, Luebbe said, until the last couple of weeks, when the weather turned cooler than seasonal norms.

“We got it in early enough,” Luebbe said. “We had that corn in by April 14, and we were plenty early there. Up until two weeks ago, I had no concerns whatsoever. We could have probably harvested the entire show site. But just these last two weeks, it just came to a standstill.”

For the week that ended Sunday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Nebraska Field Office, reported that another cool week slowed crop maturation and high humidity hampered producers trying to put up hay. Temperatures averaged 4 degrees below normal across the state, according to the report.

September is continuing the cool growing conditions, with the National Weather Service in Hasting reporting the high temperature in Grand Island so far this month 2.1 degrees below normal.

Of the 600 acres of corn planted at the Husker Harvest Days site, Luebbe said, 300 is harvested during the show.

“We would like it (corn moisture) to be in the mid- to low 20-percent range so it’s nice harvesting that early in the year,” he said. “It gives the combines a little bit more of a challenge than when that corn drops down to that 17 to 18 percent moisture level.”

But the corn moisture level may be higher than what Husker Harvest Days officials would expect come show time.

The state weather and crop report said corn conditions rated 2 percent very poor, 6 percent poor, 15 percent fair, 50 percent good, and 27 percent excellent, above last year’s 75 percent good or excellent rating.

Irrigated fields rated 80 percent good or excellent, while dry-land fields rated 72 percent, both above year-ago levels.

Luebbe said because of the slow maturity, a lot of producers are nervous that there could be an early frost. For Grand Island, the National Weather Service said there’s a 10 percent chance of a frost on Sept. 14, 50 percent chance on Sept. 26 and a 90 percent chance on Oct. 9.