Richland County has "Interesting" Harvest in 2014

I guess the most appropriate word to use for the 2014 harvest in Richland County is interesting. Not necessarily bad, not necessarily good, just interesting.

When the barley harvest started in July, it looked like everything was going to be good and maybe even terrific. The winter wheat that actually made it through the winter was looking good and for the most part the barley could have been classified as phenomenal. I remember visiting fields to certify them for the noxious weed seed free forage program and walking through chest-high barley loaded with seeds. Those growers who were able to get their crops out early certainly reaped the benefits of doing so this year.

Then, the bottom dropped out. Mid to late August and into September brought rain. According to Tanja Fransen with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service, we set new records for the most rainfall in the month of August. There are 2 sites that Tanja reported on in Richland County. One was in Savage and one was in Sidney. At the Savage location, the average rainfall for August is 1.21 inches. This August we saw a 559% increase in rainfall as the Savage site received 6.26 inches. This new record of 6.26 inches also shattered the old record of 4.46 inches which was set in 1918.

At the Sidney site, the difference was not quite as dramatic but there was still more rainfall in August than we previously had ever experienced. The new record set this year was 5.11 inches. This beat the previous record of 4.53 inches set just last year and bested the average August rainfall total of 1.16 inches by 441%.

While we hate to curse moisture in this part of the country, it could not have come at a worse time. We were just getting into spring wheat harvest when the skies opened up and it sure did make a mess of things. The coffee shop/barber shop/elevator conversations were still centered around the idea of "what am I going to do with all of this grain". However, early in the harvest season it was because it looked like harvest was going to be plentiful. Late in the harvest season it turned to issues with diseases in grain and sprouted grain that wasn't worth much to the buyers and, as such, there were fears of being stuck with grain and nowhere to unload it.

After August and early September, things did calm down somewhat and the weather pattern changed which allowed for our producers to get that last bit of the wheat crop out of the field. It still is not in the best condition, but it is at least out of the field. Now beet harvest has begun and early reports indicate that those producers are going to be pleased with the results. The same can probably be said of the corn and soybean harvest.

It is interesting to me that, as I visit with people, I commonly hear them mention that in the going on 5 years that I have been here, I have yet to see a "normal" planting, growing, and harvest season. I think that in those 5 crop producing seasons I have seen everything at some point along the way. One year there was massive flooding along the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers at planting season, one year there was a somewhat substantial drought in June and July, we have had more than adequate snow cover and no snow cover with sub-zero temperatures for weeks.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm not sure what "normal" is anymore when it comes to weather and the growing season. What I do know, though, is that our agricultural producers should be given lots of thanks and praise for continuing to do what they do through it all. So thank you and keep up the good work.