Ag News

BY JEFF HELFRICH jhelfrich@oglecountynews.com

Tuesday’s Ogle County Board Meeting didn’t exactly “Zoom” along for one county board member.

The meeting was held via a Zoom conference call, but ran into a number of technical difficulties for board members and the public who were

AGRICULTURE BY JEFF HELFRICH

jhelfrich@oglecountynews.com

One thing Polo farmer Brian Duncan doesn’t miss about last year’s harvest? Mud.

The fear of getting stuck in it. Getting it in the machine. Tracking it onto roads.

This fall, Duncan and other Ogle County farmers have seen dryer and milder weather for the harvest season compared to last year, which was wetter and drawn-out.

“We’re wrapping up soybean harvest and we’ve got a good start on corn,” Duncan said. “It’s been tremendous weather, nice and dry. Yields have been variable. Winds have impacted yields in the Polo area. If you were hit hard by the wind, your yield is down. I would say it’s been an average crop for us.”

Ogle County Farm Bureau Manager said beans are “mostly wrapped up” in the county and that corn is 40-50 percent picked. He says both crops have dried down well.

On top of issues from the Aug. 10 severe wind storm, a late summer dry spell and early spring water problems have made for “variable” and “below-average” yields, Kern said.

“One guy said he did 240-280 bushels per acre,” Kern said. “It depends on soil and where rain hit.”

The picking of downed corn has been slow, but Kern said for some it hasn’t been as bad as it seemed. Duncan was impacted by those winds. He’s had to combine his corn in different directions to pick it up.

Both men agree that early November could be when harvest gets wrapped up. Several chances of rain in the forecast coming up makes Kern nervous, but not Duncan.

“I’d like to be done by the second week in November,” Duncan said. “There’s a long way to go. We’re so dry, I wouldn’t complain about not attending the meeting in person.

Board member Lyle Hopkins of Polo said the meeting took place in the county chambers as a usual one would, but that the number of people who could attend was limited. Recent meetings have been conducted over the phone.

Hopkins was one of the board members who opted to participate rain. It could give us a chance to fix some things we’ve been putting off. It wouldn’t hurt. We started on Oct. 1 and have been plugging away.”

Kern said he’s seen limited fall tillage in county fields so far that would help farmers get a jump on next year. He thinks that will come, after farmers get more crops into their bins.

One factor that has farmers feeling positive are higher commodity prices heading into harvest. from home and became frustrated midway through the meeting.

“If we’re going to have meetings like this, we need to have a better sound system,” Hopkins said. “What kind of a meeting is this where people can’t hear? Goodnight.”

Those listening via phone were largely unable to hear Chairman John Finfrock’s comments throughout the night, as well as others who were using the microphone system in person.

“I didn’t hear more than 20 percent of it,” Hopkins said when contacted after the meeting. “That was the lousiest meeting I’ve ever heard and I’ve done Zoom meetings before. What the hell kind of government do

Milder weather has helped 2020 harvest so far

ABOVE: A farmer picks corn in a field southeast of Polo. BELOW: Grain wagons wait to transport the corn in a field east of Polo.

we have?” Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media

We’ll see how it holds up. It’s unusual for prices to rally going into harvest.” Even though he’s glad to not be tracking mud onto roads this fall, Duncan still advised county residents to keep their eyes open for harvesters with work still to be done. “Everybody be patient with machinery on roads and be safe,” Duncan said. “Spring is a sprint. Fall is a marathon.”