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Northeastern Iowa Farmers Behind in Planting Corn

Posted on: Tuesday, 25 April 2006, 18:00 CDT

By Matthew Wilde, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa

Apr. 25--TRIPOLI -- Motorists aren't the only ones feeling squeezed by high fuel prices. Every puff of black diesel exhaust belched from tractors means lower profits.

Corn planting lags behind in Northeast Iowa compared to other parts of the state, according to Monday's U.S. Department of Agriculture Crops and Weather Report. As farmers feverishly work to catch up, agriculture experts said producers need to be conscious of their planting habits.

Prior to the planting season, Mike Duffy, an Iowa State University Extension economist, figured it would cost farmers $2.72 (averaging 175 bushels per acre) to raise a bushel of corn after soybeans if diesel prices ranged between $2 and $2.20 per gallon. On Monday, farm-use diesel at Consolidated Energy in Jesup was $2.47 a gallon.

If grain farmers want to make money, curbing energy use is paramount.

"Starting now, farmers need to think more cautiously about their energy use," Duffy said after releasing this year's production cost figures.

Avoiding unnecessary trips across the field is tops on the list, officials said. Other suggestions are keeping tractor tires inflated properly, engines tuned and filters cleaned to obtain optimum fuel mileage.

As of Sunday, 26 percent of the state's corn is in the ground, compared to 15 percent last year. However, only 10 percent of Northeast Iowa's corn fields are planted.

Warm and windy conditions last week help dry out soggy fields delaying planting. Last weekend, planting hit high gear locally.

Tripoli farmer Lowell Biermann is thankful for two things --- he was able to start planting Sunday and fuel tanks were filled in the winter, when prices were more in line with Duffy's figures.

"We're in the prime window of planting now. Everyone is out," Biermann said via cell phone Monday from the field.

Biermann said it pays to keep a close eye on volatile diesel prices.

Since early March, farm-use diesel (road use taxes don't apply) jumped nearly 30 cents per gallon. It was $1 cheaper per gallon at this time two years ago.

"It makes a big difference in profitability," he said.

The report said some farmers are avoiding unnecessary fieldwork due to high fuel and input costs.

Scattered reports of soybean planting were received.

Oat seedings are 85 percent complete, with 30 percent of the crop emerged. Both figures are close to the five-year average.

An early-season pest farmers may want to be on the lookout for corn flea beetles, which can be a carrier of a bacterial disease called Stewart's Wilt. ISU Crop Specialist Brian Lang said it's an infrequent problem in Northeast Iowa, but mild winters allow for greater survival of the beetles.

Pasture and range conditions improved marginally last week, rating 3 percent very poor, 7 percent poor, 38 percent fair, 43 percent good and 9 percent excellent. Many cows have been turned out on pastures as they greened up rapidly.

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To see more of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.wcfcourier.com.

Copyright (c) 2006, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa

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Source: Waterloo Courier

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