Midwest farmer sees widest yield variance ever

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Midwest farmer sees widest yield variance ever

A Midwest grower says it was a tale of two crops this growing season.

East-central Missouri farmer Josh Johnson tells Brownfield heavy midseason rains split his harvest expectations for corn and soybeans.

“Our soybeans… even though the growth was stunted early on, they really recovered well,” he said. “We’ve got some pretty solid averages in the 50s and 60s. But corn, it took so much damage it just can’t recover.”

Johnson said he’s experiencing the widest range of yields between and within fields that he’s ever had.

“Variability in central Missouri in your crops is always present,” Johnson said. “This year is not only an exception but maybe an anomaly.”

He said the extreme rainfall made several fields boom or bust depending on drainage. Overall, Johnson said he still expects yields will come in around their average.

Johnson said he’s around 80 percent done harvesting soybeans and about 20 percent done with corn. 

Josh Johnson Interview

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