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Ohio crop progress

Corn is doing well in Tim Hesselbrock’s fields – it has adjusted to the wet weather. "Early on we had some areas where it wasn’t taking the weather too well, and those places are still out there," he said. "They’re yellow and they’ve never come out of it completely. Everything else looks good."

Corn loves rain as long as it doesn’t drown out; more water means more yield, Hesselbrock said. And it just keeps raining.

"You’d think it would run out, but so far we’ve been lucky," he said. "I’m afraid when we do run out it is going to be a shock to these crops."

He didn’t have to replant any corn, but he did his planting almost a month later than he would have preferred. Late planting equals a late harvest, and the cool summer hasn’t helped, he said.

While temperatures in some parts of the state have been cool, a week of dry, sunny weather gave farmers ample time for fieldwork, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Great Lakes Region report for the week ending Aug. 10. Drier conditions were so prevalent in the state that growers noticed some signs of stress, such as curling in corn.

Tobacco growers saw some improvement in their crops and are getting ready to harvest.

Corn silking for the week was at 91 percent, compared to 90 percent last year and 94 for the five-year average. Corn in dough stage was 36 percent, and that compared with 44 percent last year and 45 for the five-year average. Only 2 percent of corn was dented, whereas 5 percent was last year and 7 for the five-year average.

Ninety percent of soybeans were blooming, same as last year, while the five-year average was 92 percent. Soybeans setting pods were at 64 percent, a tad over the 63 percent for last year, which was the same as the five-year average. Winter wheat was 96 percent harvested, compared with 100 percent last year and the five-year average.

By Celeste Baumgartner

Ohio Correspondent

8/19/2015