Photo by Deb Gau With the harvest underway, area farmers are busy in the fields, like this combine near Highway 68 west of Minneota. While farmers aren’t struggling with mud this year, there are still some uncertainties facing corn and soybean harvests.

MARSHALL — Area farmers were busy in the fields this week — and the conditions were a big contrast to last year’s harvest, they said.

“We’re not fighting mud or anything like that,” said Andy Hennen, who farms near Ghent. Area farmers said they were also making good progress compared to 2019, when planting started late.

“We’re really having an OK week this week,” Chris Swedzinski said Friday.

Swedzinski, a Minnesota state legislator and a farmer from Ghent, said Friday his soybean harvest was done, and the corn harvest had started. So far, conditions had been good. Corn being taken out of the fields had moisture levels ranging anywhere between 14.5% and 16%, he said. Less moisture in the corn would mean less time and fuel spent drying it.

There are still some soybeans in the fields right now, said Ben Hedtke, merchandiser for Farmers Cooperative Elevator. However, he said recent frosts would affect the dry-down and yield of the remaining plants, Hedtke said. Meanwhile, “We’re just getting started with corn,” he said.

Hennen also said the corn harvest was underway for him and there were a few late-planted beans still in the field.

“It’s progressing nicely,” Hennen said of the harvest. “Moisture is down, and it’s not going to take a ton of gas” to dry crops, he said. Meanwhile, bean yields had been good but not great, he said.

Jonathan Olson, who farms near Cottonwood, said several of his neighbors had started harvesting corn. He still had some soybeans left in the field, however. “Some of the stems were a little green,” he said.

Olson said it was good not to have to contend with muddy fields this year, and was optimistic there would be good yields.

“In this area, we feel very fortunate we weren’t damaged by wind,” Olson said. Severe storms this summer hit the area around Hanley Falls and Granite Falls hard, damaging crops.

Improved corn and soybean prices this fall had also led to some optimism for Minnesota farmers. Extreme weather events in other states like Iowa and increased demand from China factored into price increases.

It was unusual to see a market really at harvest, Hedtke said. “The crop report was a surprise this year,” he said.

However, he said there are still some factors that could affect area soybean and corn harvests. “July and August was pretty dry,” Hedtke said. Combined with summer heat, it nipped back soybean yields in the southern part of FCE’s trading area. In the northern part of the trading area, recent frost likely did more damage, he said.

Straightline winds from storms in early August also caused crop damage in Minnesota.

Swedzinski said soybean farmers may be looking at selling early this year, due to increased demand from China. He said this year China had continued to push to build bigger stores of soybeans, and would also need the beans to fill that storage. However, Swedzinski said the impact of Chinese demand on soybean markets would also depend on what happens with soybean growers around the world.

While there’s easier going in the fields this year, area farmers also urged caution to avoid accidents in the field and on the roads during harvest. Hennen said he’d like to remind motorists to be careful around farm equipment when it’s traveling on the highway.

“Be smart and be safe,” Olson said.