2009 latest harvest since WWII: Farmers sweating what the cold, wet fall could yield

DEER GROVE – By now, soybeans should be on slow boats to China. By now, corn should be stubble in the field. By now, a lot should be different about Illinois’ two top crops.

Farmers have harvested the fewest soybeans this year since the attack on Pearl Harbor, while a soaking-wet corn crop leans one violent storm away from major losses.

The USDA reported Monday that, with only 19 percent of the crop harvested, 2009 is the state’s third-slowest corn harvest on record, and the slowest since 1967, when only 10 percent of harvest was complete by Nov. 1.

Soybeans are further behind. Just 35 percent have been harvested – with a previous 5-year average of 92 percent by this time. That makes 2009 the slowest since 1941, when 21 percent was harvested.

The culprit? This was the wettest October in Illinois since 1941, and the second-wettest on record for the state since 1895, according to the University of Illinois State Water Survey. With a statewide average last month of 8.9 inches of rain, Illinois saw 50 percent more than the normal average of 6 inches, the survey reported.

Deer Grove farmer Dean Perino said harvest delays have gotten so bad “you’re going to see more corn standing out all winter than you’ve ever seen in your life.”

Adding to corn growers’ woes, the crop’s value has been seriously diminished by high saturation, and commodity prices have failed to respond.

“The [Chicago] Board of Trade is something we hardly talk about,” Perino said.

Corn prices remain under $4 per bushel, well below the $5 mark they hit 2 years ago, and a Monday statement from the board suggested a recent 16-cents-a-bushel increase was tied to routine gains from the month’s opening.

While Monday’s sunshine may have given farmers the chance to get into their fields, it also served to put a damper on prices.

“Drier weather is seen as a bearish influence, although analysts say it could be a few days before the harvest picks up and begins to really pressure the market,” the statement read.

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