4 March 27, 2014 2014 LOGAN COUNTY FARM OUTLOOK MAGAZINE LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com
2013 year in review
By John Fulton
W
hat a difference a year
makes! The 2013
county-level yields for corn
and soybeans were released
in late February, and they
showed Logan County
averaged 198.1 bushels
of corn per acre and soybean yields of 56.4. The
corn yield in particular rebounded sharply from the
drought-affected 2012 level of 96.5. Soybeans showed
a moderate increase from the 2012 level of 49.5.
The 2012 soybean yields were salvaged because of
Hurricane Isaac coming late in the season, but it was
too late for the corn, since crop maturity and death
were already upon us.
The new 10-year average yields for Logan County
are 169.97 for corn and 52.79 for soybeans. The
2013 production was 41,005,000 bushels for corn
and 7,162,000 for soybeans. Talk about an economic
boost for Logan County! This translates to over
$180,000,000 for corn income, assuming an average
price of $4.40, and over $100,000,000 for soybeans at
an estimated $14 per bushel.
We did experience drought conditions in 2013, but
they came later in the season than the previous year.
Soil moisture in the upper and subsoil levels was also
much better to begin the 2013 season. The extended
wet period delayed planting by four to six weeks.
Many places received sufficient rainfall overall
through the second week of July; then a couple of
timely rains in late July and August helped fill soybean
pods. September was unseasonably warm and helped
the corn crop mature in a somewhat timely manner.
The harvest began later than in the past few years, but
we could have been much later if September had been
a “normal” month for temperatures. Dry weather was
more normal than not from mid-July on. As a matter
of fact, most of Logan County has continued to be
in a moderate drought through February. The same
situation was present last year but changed abruptly.
The winter has certainly been an interesting one.
Much colder temperatures, coupled with much-above-
average snowfall, have created challenges with water
lines freezing, propane being in short supply at times
and costs of energy (natural gas, propane, gasoline and
diesel fuel) increasing as well. If you didn’t have a
propane contract and ran low, I certainly don’t have to
discuss the high-price phenomenon with you. Another
consequence of the weather has been that the frozen
ground for much of the season hasn’t allowed water
to penetrate – only run off. This led to rapidly rising
streams but did little to recharge soil moisture or help
wells recover from low groundwater levels.
Livestock prices have been more favorable this year.
Combined with lower feed prices, things were looking
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