September 19, 2007

Soy harvest gets underway in Minnesota

Minnesota's soy harvest got under way this past week, slightly ahead of the five-year average pace, according to the Minnesota field office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Corn and soy crops continued to mature rapidly, well ahead of the average, the service said in its weekly crop-weather report.

Producers were beginning to take high moisture corn for grain, while harvest of corn silage continued well ahead of the five-year average. In the northwest, the canola harvest was mostly completed while the sugarbeet harvest was gaining momentum.

Cool overnight temperatures ranging from the upper 20s to the low 30s brought the first frost to many parts of the state. The average temperature for the week was 50.8 degrees, 8.2 degrees below normal.

Statewide topsoil moisture supplies as of Friday (September 14) were rated 14 percent very short, 32 percent short, 51 percent adequate, and 3 percent surplus. An average of 6.1 days was suitable for fieldwork.

As of Sunday, 73 percent of the corn crop was mature, compared with a 29 percent average. Three percent of the corn for grain had been harvested, compared with a 1 percent average, while corn cut for silage was 84 percent complete, compared with a 56 percent average.

Ninety-seven percent of soy was turning yellow, compared with the 86 percent five-year average. Eighty-one percent of soy were dropping leaves compared with a 53 percent average. Matured soy reached 39 percent compared with the 16 percent average, and 5 percent were harvested, compared with a 2 percent average.

As of Friday, 40 percent of the field corn and 53 percent of the soy crops were rated in good or excellent condition.