Early Yields Better than Expected

October 16, 2019

Snowfall that started unseasonably early in November 2018, causing fall preparations for the 2019 cropping season to already be behind schedule, was a sign of challenges to come for this year’s crop. Excessive spring rain made the Spring 2019 planting season as stressful as we’ve ever seen it. The cards were stacked against this year’s crop, but we try and embrace a “glass have full” stance around here and have remained hopeful.

With harvest starting later than usual, the sample size is relatively small at this point, but early yields are more promising than expected. Have there been better years? Absolutely! But, are yields as bad as any of us would have guessed in early June when many farms still didn’t have seed in the ground? Absolutely not! As combines keep rolling in the weeks to come, we remain hopeful, as all in agriculture do, that yields will continue to surprise.