NORTH ADAMS, Mich. — Heat has overtaken the Midwest from northern Michigan to southern Tennessee. Corn has taken advantage of the ideal conditions, looking healthy and deep green, while wheat is turning and soybeans are spotty.

 

According to Michigan State University extension educator Bruce MacKellar, hot, humid and windy conditions put quite a few non-irrigated early planted corn and soybeans on light under-moisture stress last week. 

 

Thunderstorms the afternoon of June 14 helped provide relief for some, but left other areas dry. While the state is dry in the north, early-planted corn looks good. The hot, humid weather has helped emergence of corn in all states, with the most rapid in Tennessee at 98 percent emerged, and Illinois with a close second with 97 percent of acres emerged – to the least in Michigan, at 84 percent emerged. Most of the corn looks consistently good from mid-Michigan to southern Ohio and central Indiana.

Soybeans are spotty, with 85 percent of the crop emerged in Iowa, 78 percent in Illinois and a drop to the lowest emergence in this region of just 51 percent in Kentucky. Ray Twining of Mahoning County, Ohio,reported late last week that he “just finished planting beans two days ago, and that ground was still pretty wet.” Many farmers who put their beans in early had several acres to replant last week.

Warm weather and limited rain assisted growers in the early wheat harvest in Illinois. Harvest is 24 percent complete, compared to the five-year average of 11 percent. Winter wheat condition was rated 8 percent very poor, 7 percent poor, 21 percent fair, 47 percent good and 17 percent excellent.

Wheat is turning in all the Midwest states and is consistent from southern Ohio to central Indiana. Ohio winter wheat producers remain optimistic about this year’s production even after the recent heavy rainfall saturated some fields, according to Cheryl Turner, state statistician of the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service’s Ohio field office.

Wheat production in the state is expected to be 32.7 million bushels. The yield forecast of 76 bushels per acre would be 4 below last year’s state record of 80. The crop continues to be in good condition despite ponding seen across the state.

At the end of May, 94 percent of the crop was reported as headed, well ahead of the five-year average of 71 percent. At the same time, its condition was rated 3 percent poor, 18 percent fair, 60 percent good and 19 percent excellent. Some warm, dry days provided good conditions for harvesting hay in certain parts of Michigan. First-cutting alfalfa is finished in some areas of the Midwest and, in other areas, farmers are preparing for a second cutting in the next week.

Southern Ohio is a different story. Some hay producers are still working on their first-cutting crop while others are finished and a second cutting is just around the corner.

In Indiana, second-cutting harvest is just about to begin, while Iowa’s dairy producers are chopping a second crop and filling bunkers and silos when weather allows. Pasture conditions throughout the Midwest range from 52-64 percent good, compared to 11-24 percent of fields in excellent condition.