I-80 Harvest Tour Finds Some Silver Lining in Kansas Despite Another Drought Year

The corn harvest in Kansas is making good progress with about a quarter of the crop out of the field.  However, with the drought only 32% of the crop is rated good to excellent and for beans it’s even less at 23%.   Yet as Michelle Rook found there are still some areas where farmers are pleasantly surprised with what they’re finding in the field.   

Ken and Brad McCauley feel very fortunate this season.  In a year where nearly 70% of Kansas is under D1 to D4 drought, they’re seeing the results of some timely rains. 

At their farm near White Cloud, Kansas they had a dry spell in the spring that lasted until through June, but they received five inches of rain in June, five inches in July and then not quite five in August.

However, they say they’re the exception and you don’t have to go very far before the drought and heat are evident.

Ken McCauley says, "It's pretty close to ideal right here but west and south of us it's not near as well off they've they're really hurting for moisture patterns changed a little bit but right now it's gone back to their dry in central and Northwest Kansas."

As the combines roll through McCauley’s fields, they’re not finding the corn they did last year but still above APH.  So, they’re pleased.

Brad McCauley says, "We started on some of our better ground and the yields were to 220 to 230 bushels per acre. Even little better than that in places and we went to some of our worst ground and still hitting the close to the 200 mark in areas."

And while the drought has cut statewide corn yields in Kansas again this year, the average may be above 2022 according to Ken, who is a past president of the National Corn Growers Association.  "I don't think it'll be down from last year because last year was pretty low. We were down in the 500 million bushels, and I think we'll be up in oh closer to 600 million maybe."

He says they did find some tar spot in the corn. But it came so late it may not have hurt yields…or test weights which are running 58- to 60 pounds.  And the corn won’t need much drying as maturity was pushed by the heat.  "Our moisture level on the corn right now is is 17% to 19%."

The McCauley’s are a couple of weeks away from combining soybeans but they’re not expecting bumper yields. Brad says, "I see soybean yields kind of like corn not as on the top in this last year. But we're going to have 70 plus."

Disease pressure played a role but so did the weather.

Ken says, "When that sudden death hit it. Those fields are going to be sure we've had it before, and it really hurts your yield. While Brad added that the end of August it got hot for 10 days and that took some yield out of the beans.  

As the harvest progresses, the McCauley’s and farmers across Kansas are hoping the weather pattern will change and finally break the drought as they move into 2024.