Farmers tackle late harvest, prices still good

By Dawn Slade
Mille Lacs County Times
Posted 11/27/02

Once the ground hardened and with little to no mud left in area fields, farmers were finally able to get back to harvesting their crops.

That is until it snowed again during the overnight hours between Wednesday and Thursday last week.

Jeff Paul, a dairy farmer north of Foreston, was finally able to combine his corn early last week.

Paul uses the corn, hay and barley he grows to feed the dairy cattle he owns. Though he admits he didnít get much off the barley this year.

Area farmers have harvested a lot of hay this season, but say the nutrient value is down.

"It seems that when itís cloudier and rainier, it doesnít have the nutrient value," Paul said of the hay.

In dryer years, Paul says the volume may be less, but typically itís a better quality hay.

Steve Bemis, who owns 200 acres south of Foreston and farms 500 acres of corn and 300 acres of soybeans, said, "Itís been quite a struggle this year."

Bemis said he was half-way done with harvest when the area received seven inches of snow in October, which caused some loss for him.

Bemis has about 20 beef cattle and uses very little of the corn and soybeans, roughly 10 percent, for his cattle. The rest of the crops are sold.

"We fought all year," Bemis said of his hay crop. "We never got any decent hay up this year."

Bemis admits he has a lot of hay, but thereís not much quality to it.

"The ones milking cows are really hurting this year, plus the milk prices are bad, too," Bemis said.

Paul also mentioned that milk prices are down and says it looks like itíll remain that way until next spring.

"We finally harvested soy beans last Sunday," Bemis said. Because of the wet summer, Bemis has had to dry both the beans and corn in a bin dryer, which is a slow process.

Luckily, the late harvest hasnít affected prices, Bemis added. But, he notes, most everywhere else in the United States, harvest is already done.

"When it gets this late, the pods get dry and theyíll shatter, Paul said of the soybean crops. "You can lose the beans that way."

Phil Peterson of Peterson Farms, northwest of Milaca, said theyíre about one-third of the way to completion with harvesting corn.

"Itís been a good year, we have a lot to sell," Peterson said. But he added, that they, too, are still waiting for the corn to dry.

Mandy Visser with Federated Co-ops, Inc. in Pease said they were quite busy with farmers bringing in soybeans, but the snow that fell overnight Wednesday, Nov. 20 put a temporary halt to the soybean harvest.

Visser also said that normally theyíre almost done with corn by this time. She recommends that farmers call ahead before bringing crops in to the co-op as it can get quite busy with loads.

Prices for both corn and soybean are up from last year, according to Visser who said area farmers can contact manager Ken OíBrien for further information on pricing.

Virginia Braaten of Farmers Co-op Creamery in Foreston said itís too early to know if thereís less corn than normal as most farmers are still combining.

Braaten also said the corn prices are a little higher this year compared to last.

The weather will determine when the harvest season will be finished, but if the snow can hold off and the ground stays hard, it should be completed within the next couple of weeks.

Of course, with the wet summer, ruts have developed in area fields which may cause some farmers to delay tilling until spring.