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| Fields across the Corn Belt, like this one in Missouri, are
soggy this week after several days of severe weather and flooding. |
Severe Weather Likely to Delay Completion of Corn Planting (5-27-04)
Severe weather
and flooding last week significantly slowed planting progress
in many parts
of the Corn Belt, but National Corn Growers
Association (NCGA) Chairman Fred Yoder said it’s too early
to tell how the bad weather may affect earlier predictions of record
corn yields and a record crop.
“It all depends on what kind of growing season we’re
going to have,” said Yoder, who farms near Plain City, Ohio. “At
this point, I would be surprised if we get a record crop, but it’s
just too early to know. It’s going to take a near-perfect
growing season to get that record crop.”
This week’s U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) crop progress
report shows 95 percent of the nation’s corn crop is already
in the ground, but the spate of severe weather and the flooding
that resulted will delay completion of planting.
Last week,
USDA’s
Storm Prediction Center tallied more than 1,500 reports of severe
storms, including numerous tornadoes and
three-quarter-inch hail. Nearly 150 tornadoes were reported during
the week, mostly across the Plains and Midwest. Heavy rains and
hail fell across much of the Corn Belt, with several locations
reporting daily record rainfall. Yoder said the recent rains in
Ohio left standing water in many area corn fields.
“It’s been very frustrating,” he said. “We’ve
been getting rain every day and there are lakes everywhere. The
stuff that was planted early looks OK, but we really need a dry
spell to help establish deeper roots. The counties south of here
really got hammered and some of the guys there will have to replant.”
While most
states in the Corn Belt planted at a record pace this spring,
Ohio has
just 85 percent of its crop planted, 2 percent
behind last year’s pace. “We may end up stopping at
85 percent because of the weather,” Yoder said. “A
lot of guys are abandoning whatever corn planting they had left.”
Overall, this
year’s planting pace is 10 percentage points
ahead of last year’s rate and 8 percent ahead of normal,
according to USDA. Of the top 18 corn-producing states, only Ohio
and Texas are behind last year’s pace. Eight states – Illinois,
Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee
and Texas – reported planting completion rates of 98 percent
or higher.
The National Weather Service says the rain may be tapering off,
but flooding will be a concern throughout the Midwest for the next
several days. As of Thursday, flood watches were in effect for
parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Missouri. Flooding
also continues in parts of Ohio, Texas and Virginia.
Despite the
recent unfavorable weather and flooding, Yoder said farmers are
still optimistic
about this year's corn’s prospects. “Over
the years, we’ve learned to deal with bad weather,” he
said. “We’ve had some very abnormal conditions in the
past several years and Mother Nature definitely presents some challenges,
but we just keep taking it a day at a time.”