'Field Notes' talks corn crops, weather

The series Field Notes is currently in its sixth season of taking its readers behind the scenes of farms.

This past week, the series met with Jim Raben of southern Illinois, April Hemmes of north central Iowa and Dan Erickson from Minnesota to talk about corn crop growth and how this harvest is progressing.

“We are actually finished harvesting corn,” Raben said. “It was a quick harvest, and corn yields were down in our area. Ours were down between 30 and 35 percent off of average for early corn and 50 to 60 percent off of average for the late corn.”

In Iowa, farmer April Hemmes said wet conditions in her area severely hampered her harvest.

“We are trying to plow through the mud here,” she said. “I have a little bit of my beans harvested. My area got nine or more inches of rain and flooded. Even now, we are still dying down and trying to get through it.”

In Minnesota, Dan Erickson said the rain did affect his crops but he was able to salvage the corn and says it is in excellent condition.

The remaining interviews can be found on the National Corn Growers Association’s website.