WILLMAR -- Early reports show that the soybean harvest is as good as or better than expected.
Producers are reporting a wide range of yields, from 25 to 50 bushels per acre depending on location and soil type, according to Wes Nelson, executive director of the Kandiyohi County Farm Service Agency.
"Most farmers say it's been better than we had thought," he said. "The beans are as good as or maybe even better than expected."
Yield reports of up to 50 bushels per acre have been reported in the southern part of the county, while lower numbers are reported in the northeast, where soils are much lighter.
In Renville County, producers are harvesting early to mid-maturity soybeans and seeing yields of 60 bushels per acre in the area of Bird Island and Hector, according to David Nicolai, University of Minnesota Extension Service crops educator based in Hutchinson.
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Earlier maturity soybeans yielded from 50 to 55 bushels per acre. Moisture levels were reported from 10 to 13 percent, depending on the time of day when samples are taken.
The yield numbers are what producers were expecting, Nicolai said, based on the number of pods found during earlier crop scouting.
In Chippewa County, producers are finding early yields in the upper 40s and lower 50s per acre, according to Leon Johnson, executive director of the Chippewa County Farm Service Agency.
The soybean yields were bolstered by timely August rains, even though the summer was quite dry. Now, dry weather is needed to allow producers to keep going on the soybeans and dry the corn in the field.
"We want to let Mother Nature dry the corn crop in the field, that way we can save on drying costs," Nelson said.
Nicolai estimated the corn crop at about 20 percent moisture right now, and reminded producers to watch for stalk rot and lodging. If rot is present, the plants may not stand long enough to dry in the field.
Statewide, the soybean crop was 19 percent harvested as of Sunday, according to the Minnesota weekly crop-weather report. That is ahead of the 7 percent harvested at this time last year, but lags behind the five-year average of 28 percent harvested.
The corn crop is estimated at 88 percent mature, which is ahead of the 74 percent five-year average. Corn moisture was 26 percent, compared to 25 percent for the five-year average.
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With farmers driving trucks in and out of fields and moving harvesting equipment from field to field, plus sugar beet trucks moving a record harvest from field to piles and then to processing plants, Nicolai and Nelson both stressed safety and awareness by the public.
"Safety is a main concern right now," Nelson said.
Nicolai stressed that the driving public needs to watch out for trucks moving in and out of fields and be extra aware of harvest activities at dusk.
"When they pull out, they aren't going at a high speed, a car can come up on the truck very quickly," he said.
