MITCHELL REPUBLIC: As harvest approaches, some corn and soybeans feeling the stress of high heat, low precipitation

Jeff Burg, who farms near Wessington Springs and represents District 7 with the South Dakota Corn Growers Association, said good fortune and cultivation practices could be a big factor this year in crop quality and quantity. No-till methods, drought-resistant seed hybrids and use of cover crops may have helped some farmers conserve the moisture they did get.

“It’s going to be highly variable depending on cultivation practices. We were working toward a pretty good crop until the last few weeks, but I’d call it an average crop, not below average,” Burg said.

Based on his observations, he is hoping for corn yields around 150 to 200 bushels per acre, and soybean yields in the 40 to 60 bushels per acre range.

Burg said he expected better yields and crop conditions farther northwest in the Miller and Faulkton areas, where early rains were relatively steady and gave fields a good moisture base to work with as temperatures rose over the summer.

“You get northwest of here up toward Miller, they started out a lot wetter. They’ll have a bumper crop there and up in the Faulkton area. I talked to several (farmers in that area), and they have a big one,” Burg said.