I-80 Harvest Tour: Missouri Drought Hurts Statewide Yields but Harvest Results in Some Areas Buck That Trend

Drought hit farmers hard in much of Missouri this year cutting statewide yields, but there are areas where harvest results are bucking that trend. 

One of those areas is northwest, Missouri where Bryant Kaygy is finding some pleasant surprises this harvest.  He says they started off dry just like the rest of the state and got the crop planted ahead of normal.  "We had enough soil moisture to get the crop off to a really good start. But it was it was really dry and it just kind of hung on through those first few months in the season."

The pattern continued mostly dry in his area with just some scattered rains, so their subsoil moisture has been depleted.  But the Amity, Missouri farmer knows he’s still in better shape than other parts of the state.  Kaygy says, "I pulled up the Drought Monitor map this morning. And there's a little bitty white yellow spot that's right around us and it's just surrounded by red severe drought areas. So really, really fortunate to have caught the rain we did."

So, somehow, they’re getting above average corn yields on their farm.  "You know, our corn has been anywhere from 210 to 240, which like I said, is probably 20% or 30% above normal and, you know on track to be one of our best years ever."

They were also fortunate to have very little tip back from the heat and stalk integrity is solid.  The one caveat is heat stress pushed the crop during filling and so the corn is a bit lighter.   "The test weight of the corn we've sold so far have been kind of on that average what you'd expect for corn that 56 to 60 not as high as we'd had hoped."

And this was the first year they’ve seen tar spot, which crept in late season.  He says, "I don't think it set in early enough to do a lot of yield damage, but it's certainly going to be something we have to look at going forward for management."

While corn harvest is nearly two thirds done on their farm, it may be a few weeks before they start on soybeans.  And expectations are tempered by the dry August weather.  "I hate to make a prediction, but I would hope mid 50 to 60, which would still be a really good average for us."

Plus, he says disease pressure was significant.  "We've seen a lot of sudden death pressure that came in in that early August timeframe. We had all that moisture; the beans were planted very early. And we definitely saw I think there'll be some pockets that have some substantial yield loss from sudden death."

But considering all the adversity during the 2023 growing season, he’s still very thankful with the outcome of this harvest season.