Redwood, Renville and Brown counties are usually in the state’s top 10 percent for corn and soybean production. There are pockets in northern Redwood County near Vesta and Lucan, as well as on the north side of the Minnesota River in Renville County, that continue to struggle. “There is some corn that is in pretty tough shape because of nitrogen deficiency and those sorts of things,” he said. “And we are starting to see some soybean diseases, as well.” Not all is gloom and doom, however. Overall, “corn, I think, is doing all right,” Potter said. “We looked at some ears — it depends upon how much water they stood in — but there’s some tip-back and that sort of thing. In other parts of the fields, we’ve got some really good ears.” He added that corn is “pretty much safe now. It’s getting dented or is close. But we still have quite a lot of fill on the soybeans — especially the later planted stuff. So there is opportunity for disease to come in there. We are seeing a lot of sudden death syndrome as a result of the wet spring.” If weather conditions hold, he predicts the corn harvest to start the middle of September. “Corn should be normal (timing wise),” Potter said. “Soybeans will be a couple weeks late, but by the beginning of October, we will see some soybeans that are ready.” “I think it can be summed up simply around here: it could be better, but it could be worse.” Southeast Minnesota Brennen Toquam, corn and soybean farmer in Blooming Prairie, said the southeast part of the state got too much rain early, and not enough at the end of July and beginning of August. He said that could lead to lower yields for this season. “From looking at fields, I think compared to last year, we’re going to be down 10 to 15 percent on our corn,” said Toquam. “There’s tip-back issues in the field right now, and the big wild card that I’ve been hearing about is that kernel depth is not what it has been in previous years.” Toquam said that after picking up a couple of inches of rain two weeks ago, he thought area fields were sitting pretty good for the harvest. It may have been too late to add yield to soybeans, he said, but with corn it would definitely help with kernel depth and test weight come fall. It’s tough to predict soybean yields, Toquam said, but he thinks his farm’s early planted beans are going to be better than their later planted ones. The beans planted earlier don’t seem to have as much disease and insect pressure as the ones planted later. He said that sudden death syndrome seems to be worse this year; however white mold, which has been bad in the previous years, is not nearly as bad as previous seasons. Because they planted soybeans earlier than usual this year, Toquam said they’ll most likely start to harvest them earlier too, closer to mid-September. That’s about two weeks earlier than normal. Once the beans are in, he’ll start on the corn. He’s looking forward to the harvest, and putting this growing season in the past. “It’s been an interesting one, with drown-outs and those rains, it seemed like we couldn’t unhook the planter until the middle of June,” said Toquam. “You never felt like you got done with any one job, because our crops were kind of all over the place. It was tough to get into a rhythm, because it’s been far from a normal year.” Source - https://www.postbulletin.com