Prior to the beginning of the Kentucky State Fair that opened Aug. 13, Harold Workman, fair board president and CEO, expressed concern that due to record drought the quality of some fruit and vegetable ribbon entries might not measure up to those of recent fairs.

One of the crops suffering the most in Kentucky this year is corn, and University of Kentucky extension agronomist Chad Lee wrote recently that some corn plants in the state are turning red or reddish-purple from a build-up of sugar in the leaves and stalks. He said this is a result of too few kernels being developed on the ears.

Lee forecast that if this corn is used as silage, “The lack of kernels will reduce total energy and total digestible nutrients within the silage.”

The NASS report from Aug. 20 reported Kentucky experienced below-average rainfall and cooler temperatures throughout the prior week. Average rainfall for the week totaled 0.77 inch, which was 0.09 inch below normal, and the average temperature of 72 degrees, or 4 degrees cooler than the normal statewide average for the same period.

Moisture in the topsoil was up to nearly 50 percent adequate or better, but subsoil moisture was short of 40 percent adequate.

Eighty-eight percent of corn had reached the dough stage. Seventy-eight percent of the corn reached the dent state. Fifty-five percent has matured, and 11 percent of the corn has been harvested already. The average condition of the overall crop was rated nearly 80 percent poor.

Progress in soybeans showed 79 percent of the crop has set pods and 9 percent of the plants have dropped their leaves. Overall condition of the crop was reported at 46 percent poor or worse and 29 percent fair. Twenty-five percent was in the good to excellent category.

The overall condition of the set tobacco was rated as 9 percent very poor, 14 percent poor, 31 percent fair, 36 percent good and 10 percent excellent. Seventeen percent of the burley crop was been cut, and 14 percent of the dark tobacco crop has been cut.

The condition of pastureland was rated for the period at 23 percent very poor, 25 percent poor, 34 percent fair, 16 percent good and 2 percent excellent.