North central Ohio’s deepest November snowfall in six years, accompanied by prolonged temperatures that were chilly even by mid-January standards, froze the local grain harvest in its tracks during the past week.
Most agricultural producers have not been affected, however, as a large majority of corn and soybeans have been taken in. Some local farmers even got out to till their harvested fields as the snow continued to swirl.
Statewide, 81 percent of this season’s corn crop was harvested as of last Sunday, right before the snow hit, along with 93 percent of the soybeans, both very close to the five-year average as farmers finally managed to catch up late in the season, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
The early cold was a potential threat to the new winter wheat crop, 86 percent of which has emerged, but the USDA said 54 percent of the crop was in good condition, with 27 percent considered fair.
Although a dry August impacted yields in parts of north central Ohio, particularly northern Crawford County, Cheryl Turner, state statistician for the USDA’s Ohio Field Office, said the state is expected to post record corn and soybean yields this year.
Corn yield is estimated to be 177 bushels per acre, tying the record from last year, whereas production should be down to 616 million bushels, down 7 percent compared with 2014. Soybean yield, at a projected 50 bushels an acre, would be a record, as would an estimated production of 244.5 million bushels.
Turner also noted that Ohio dairy herds produced 457 million pounds of milk last month, up 2.9 percent from a year ago, or 55.2 pounds per cow, which was 2 pounds higher than October 2013.
