MONROE — It’s still early but farmers are starting to see a bountiful harvest for bean,s corn and corn sileage this autumn. And as the Green and Lafayette County crop continues to come in, experts don’t expect that too change much.
“This last Saturday, we harvested snaplage,” said Dan Truttman of Truttman Farms, LLC, located in northern Green County. “The moisture was excellent and the yield very nice as well.”
Though largely a dairy operation, Truttman has about 360 acres in corn, about 200 of which was harvested, finishing about two weeks ago,
Truttman appears to be a bit ahead of the game when it comes to corn, according to Josh Kamps, an ag educator specializing in crops for the Lafayette County UW-Extension service. He said the weather has been good for harvest but many producers are still waiting a bit to hit their fields, hoping to save money on crop drying costs that have risen exponentially in some areas.
Still, there were no widespread weather events this year to hurt corn production, and soybean crops are in good shape as well, he said.
“Farmers are pleased so far they have been picking well and the moisture has been pretty good, said Kamps. “A lot of the corn sileage has been harvested and they are telling us it’s been pretty good.”
Still, there is plenty left in the field to harvest, he said, owing largely to the fact that many got started planting late this year; and the existence of a dry spell in June, with some lost heating unit days in the process.
Green County represents about 2% of the state’s total agricultural sales, according to the USDA.
Producers, Kamps and other experts say, remain very concerned about the rising costs of farm inputs — such as gasoline, fertilizer and seed. Truttman said fertilizer is a particularly expensive input right now, with prices for it rising two to three times what producers were seeing in previous years.
For that reason, Truttman is working to complete another comprehensive soil survey on his farm, with an eye on using less fertilizer and only in places that need it most.
“We have to be really, really careful applying nutrients,” he said. “Much moreso than we have been in the past at least.”
In the most recent statistics available, Wisconsin had 5.5 days suitable for fieldwork for the week ending Sept. 25, 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. The first reported frost in the north of the state was “light and sporadic”, but for the most part the weather was drier and warmer than normal, according to the USDA.
In Wisconsin, topsoil-moisture condition is rated 1% very short, 10% short, 79% adequate and 10% surplus. Subsoil-moisture, meanwhile, rated 1% very short, 15% short, 79% adequate and 5% surplus.
As far as the condition of this year’s crop, according to the USDA: Corn was 98% in the dough stage or beyond. Eighty-seven percent of corn had reached the dent state, nine days behind 2021 but two days ahead of the average. Forty-two percent of corn was mature, three days behind 2021 and one day behind the average.
Corn condition was 78% good to excellent statewide, an increase of 1 percentage point from the previous week, the agency said. Corn for silage harvest was at 39% complete, 10 days behind 2021 and six days behind the average.