Crop yields look good overall in Stearns and Todd
Corn is coming in from 80 to 240, with soybeans averaging in the low 40s with some up to the 60s.
By Jennie Zeitler
Staff Writer
jennie.zeitler@ecm-inc.com
Although varying widely depending on soil type and irrigation levels, crop yields are looking very positive across Stearns and Todd counties.
Brian and Sonja Miller with Central Grain in Sauk Centre have found soybean yields in the upper 50s to lower 60s, with corn yields above average at around 175 bushels per acre.
“Soybeans are awesome,” said Sonja. “We’re seeing a good crop with good prices.”
“Yields are kind of all over,” said Justin Dickinson with Central Ag in Clarissa. “Corn yields range from 70 to 200 and soybeans from 15 to 60.”
Although yields are all over the board around Long Prairie, Prairie Lakes Co-op Location Manager Jay Heinze said, “We’re pretty impressed with what we’re seeing.”
Corn is coming in from 80 to 240, with soybeans averaging in the low 40s with some up to the 60s.
Phyllis Framsted, Farm Service Agency (FSA) director for Stearns County, said, “People are surprised at how good the bean yields are.”
Corn is looking good overall, too. “One producer near Freeport whose corn has been chopped came up with a range of 150 to 200 bushels,” she said.
In Morrison County, yields are all over the place from very poor on sandy soils that were not irrigated, to bumper yields in areas where rains were timely (because of good growing degree days).
“The driest areas seem to be around Sobieski, Swanville, Bowlus and south of Flensburg with the best yields in the eastern part of the county,” said Morrison County FSA director Darrell Larsen. “I’ve heard reports from crop insurance adjusters that corn was from 50 bushels per acre to 180. Soybeans seem to be more consistent and are varying from 40-50 bushels per acre in most areas.”
Crop insurance adjusters have been measuring corn rows that were left standing in chopped fields not because of insurance claims, but because that is how the actual production history (APH) yields for future coverage is determined.
