Survey says: 162, corn; 50.74, beans
If the group of about 30 people that canvassed Fayette County last Thursday are on target – and they usually are – county farmers can expect some good yields come harvest time.
Those men and women were the surveyors for this year’s edition of the annual crop survey held by the Fayette County Farm Bureau’s marketing committee.
The six teams of surveyors spread out to cover the entire county, and when their numbers were tabulated, they came up with overall estimates of 162.30 bushels per acre for corn and 50.74 bushels for soybeans.
Both of those numbers are up from last year – 140 for corn and 45 for beans. In 2014, the estimates were 176.14 for corn and 45.67 for beans, and the 2013 numbers were 157.42 for corn and 38.4 for beans.
Each team gathered eight to 12 samples of each crop, and estimates were figured for each region, according to Farm Bureau Manager Stephanie Kraus.
The highest yield estimates for both crops were turned in by the crew surveying the southwest area of the county – 254 bushels per acre for corn and 70 bushels per acre for soybeans (in two fields, and 68 bushels in a third).
The total yield estimates for that region were 192.90 bushels per acre for corn and 50.80 for soybeans.
The lowest yield estimate for corn, 76 bushels per acre, was in the west central area of the county, and the lowest soybean estimate, 25 bushels per acre (in two fields), was in the southeast part of Fayette County.
In addition to figuring estimates in the fields that they visited, the surveyors were asked to make note of anything that they observed in the crops.
They turned in reports of mold, gray leaf spot, rust, heavy disease and frogeye leaf spot.
The total yield estimates for the six county regions surveyed are as follows:
• Northeast – Corn, 160.22; soybeans, 57.89.
• Northwest – Corn, 161; soybeans, 53.25.
• Southeast – Corn, 154.22; soybeans, 41.30.
• Southwest – Corn, 192.90; soybeans, 50.80.
• East central – Corn, 171.20; soybeans, 49.30.
• West central – Corn, 134.25; soybeans, 51.91.
Chad Towler, right, explains to Kaven Hoffman, one of six FFA members at Vandalia Community High School participating in this year’s crop survey, how corn yields are estimated. Also participating were Dalton Whitten, Nicholas Wollerman, Matt Lidy, Amber Halstead and Sophia Eyman.