News

Eastern Nebraska farmer says dryland crops are losing yield every day

An Eastern Nebraska farmer says on-going drought and extreme heat are hurting crops.

Chris Clausen says he’s never seen a soybean crop decline this quickly. “In July, I think I had 7 inches of rain and looked like we were going to have a tremendous soybean crop. Expectations were probably 65 to 70 if you didn’t have any disease. The crop is shutting down. The plants are wilting.”

A farmer-led yield tour evaluated 14 fields in Colfax County and estimated 190 bushels per acre, but he says the crop could lose up to 20 bushels per acre before harvest. “Because we’re going to lose it in kernel depth and test weight. We’re also already seeing some ears starting to drop, which means the plant is shutting off.”

Clausen tells Brownfield the corn crop is in good shape, but it’s also going downhill fast. “We haven’t had moisture now for over 2 weeks and it doesn’t look like we’ve got any coming in the near future plus the heat coming this weekend.”

He says harvest should be on schedule because the corn crop still has a high moisture content and isn’t at maturity yet.  Clausen says that could change with the incoming heat wave.

Chris Clausen: