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Nebraska farmer says July rains helped his corn, soybeans

Recent rains have helped Nebraska crop conditions.

Doug Saathoff, who farms in the south-central part of the state, tells Brownfield…

“We’re looking really good,” he says. “Of course we had quite a bit of rain up to about the first week of July and it made everything look real good, but now we’re irrigating hard and heavy, especially with the heat we’ve had.”

According to USDA, corn conditions in the state are 70% good to excellent, down slightly from a week ago, with 97% of the crop silking, 51% in the dough stage and 5% dented. Saathoff says he’s seen no signs of Southern Rust in his fields.

“We’ve sprayed all our corn with fungicide and we’ve even (sprayed) a few beans for Japanese beetles, but it seems like the disease is really moving in really fast. Hopefully, we got ahead of it before it got too bad,” he says.

He says soybeans are also looking good.

“I think it’s probably the best looking beans I’ve had in several years,” he says.

Soybean conditions are 73% good to excellent, with 95% of the crop blooming and 73% setting pods.