Part of N.D. corn crop still in the field
About 10 percent of North Dakota’s corn crop is still in the field and probably won’t be harvested this year because of snow, corn growers say.
GRAND FORKS (AP) — About 10 percent of North Dakota’s corn crop is still in the field and probably won’t be harvested this year because of snow, corn growers say.
Tom Lilja, the executive director of the North Dakota Corn Growers Association, said most of the unharvested corn is north of a line between Jamestown and Grand Forks.
North Dakota farmers planted 2.25 million acres of corn this year. That’s not a record acreage, but this year’s per-acre yield is so good that the crop is expected to be a record 284 million bushels.
As recently as three years ago, nearly half the corn harvested in the state for grain came from the seven counties in the southeast corner of the state.
After averaging about 800,000 acres harvested a year since the mid-1980s, the state’s corn crop nearly tripled over the past 10 years in acreage as seed varieties and techniques improved.
The amount of corn left in the field over the winter could total 20 million bushels worth about $60 million, based on $3-per-bushel price.
Some farmers in the Red River Valley saw corn yields of 180 bushels or more per acre. The lighter, drier soils in central and western North Dakota yield less than 100 bushels an acre.
Although corn prices were relatively high for much of the year, they fell by half in the past three months.
High moisture content of the corn has meant farmers have to spend extra money to dry the corn.
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