What heat ridge? This is the question the northern area farmers are asking or wishing they could get after a very cool summer. It was 47 degrees at my house Tuesday AM August 4th. The good thing about the cooler temps is that the moisture which is borderline short in some areas doesn't disappear as fast. One seed company agronomist thinks that most of the corn North of highway number two which runs through Minnesota and North Dakota will not make it to maturity. Some think the line will be even further south. Much of the corn has not tasseled or has just started and the normal frost date is somewhere plus or minus September 25 you can do the math and see the problem. Even some corn further south in ND and northern Minnesota will need some good weather. This is not a big corn area but could be a drag on the big overall yields. Soybeans are in a similar predicament some are very short 6 to 8 inches and others look really nice. The people that I talk to are expecting beans to produce a reduced overall average yield. The wheat crop looks great all over. The wheat crop is late in some northern areas so an earlier than normal frost could cause some quality problems. I think the farmer's attitude in this northern area is to wait and see how their crops will turn out before selling, even though they would like to sell more if prices are at profitable levels especially in beans. The chances of a killing frost or reduced row crop yields will keep selling on hold. The spring wheat although good bushels might be subject to lower protein levels so this unknown and what the unknown of what the market might discount proteins will also push as much as possible into storage. People are expecting the main spring wheat harvest to be into September this year. As you can see, the localized problems that probably will have little affect on the whole country's crop are causing some worries on what to do about marketing. Maybe a thought would be to use some type of low cost option strategy to lock in a level that would be profitable for your farm thus protecting price and not having to deliver if there are crop problems.
Danny Pinske
Allendale Branch Manager – Waubon, MN
drgrain@arvig.net
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