Staff photo by Fritz Busch Farmers harvesting corn and hauling it away take a break near CR 27 west of New Ulm Thursday. A number of farmers said despite dry weather, corn yields are better than they expected. Farmers said a positive of dry weather is they are saving on corn drying costs.

BROWN COUNTY — While warm, record-setting dry fall weather continues, some farmers say things aren’t as bad as they thought they would be.

Thursday’s U.S. Drought Monitor update listed most of south central and southwest Minnesota in moderate drought.

It’s dusty too. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) listed parts of south central and all of western Minnesota with moderate air quality Thursday. More moderate air quality is forecast for Friday but forecast to improve Saturday.

“Lofted dust from recently plowed fields bumped up AQI (Air Quality Index) values across southwest Minnesota. This happens regularly this time of year,” read the MPCA air quality update Thursday.

“We’re dry, dry, dry. Some guys going down a foot or more aren’t finding moisture. We usually rebound late in the season. It’s tough to rain when its dry. We’ll see what Mother Nature brings us,” said Brown County farmer Justin Remus.

He said he just started getting corn out Tuesday.

“We’re getting 170 to 210 bushels and 13.5% moisture in 99-day corn. We’ll save on drying costs, but lose some yield due to water weight taken away from it being too dry,” said Remus.

“Same thing with beans. Clear skies and sun are advancing the crop along, faster than we can stay in front of. A lot of guys got 50 bushel beans with 7% moisture, less than ideal and the beans are smaller this year,” he said.

Remus, a member of the Minnesota Soybean Grower’s Association Board, said future challenges include finding the right seed variety for next year.

“We’ll see what comes this winter. It’ll snow, melt and snow again, which can bring insect pressure and soil moisture,” he said.

Lake Benton farmer and former Minnesota Soybean Growers Association President Bob Worth echoed Remus’ thoughts.

“It’s really dry. It’s really good for drying corn down. We haven’t found anything we have to dry yet. What’s scary is fires. It’s so dry. The fire department goes out to fire calls every few days. Farmers have to be aware of how dry it is,” said Worth.

The ground is so dry, some implements are being damaged.

Worth said corn yields are surprisingly good, much better than he expected.

Retired South Central College Farm Management instructor Wayne Schoper said harvest is moving along.

“Some guys are turning fans without heat on corn to finish the drying. We saving a bundle on corn drying no doubt. It’s pretty nice out there. It’s a bonus with low humidity and no frost yet,” he said.

“We’re really ahead of the game getting corn and beans out of the ground. Some manure and other fertilizer is being applied. We need some moisture recharge by mid November to December,” Schoper said.

Farm Management Analyst Kent Thiesse said based on many Upper Midwest yield reports, it’s likely a significant number of corn and soybean producers may qualify for crop insurance indemnity payments in 2024.

Thiesse said the established base prices for 2024 revenue protection (RP) crop insurance insurance were $4.66 per bushel for corn and $11.55 for soybeans.

National Weather Service (NWS) Meteorologist Ryan Dunleavy said it’s been a record-setting dry fall.

“We had 0.06 inches of rain in September, the driest since 1871 when NWS record-keeping began at the Minneapolis Airport, which was the first place in Minnesota to do it,” said Dunleavy.

The next driest September was 0.24 inches in 2022 and 0.27 in 1882.

“We have potential to set another dry record for October. We haven’t had any rain yet in October. The next driest was 0.01 inches of rain in October 1952,” he said.

Dunleavy said temperatures are returning to normal early next week with a possible widespread freeze Monday night into Tuesday morning. Later next week, temperatures go back to the upper 60s, lower 70s, maybe a bit warmer.

Some people call it “whiplash” weather when temperatures rise 40 degrees from morning to afternoon.

“It’s Mother Nature trying to figure out what season it is,” Dunleavy said.

Winter snow? Remember the 2022-2023 winter when a record-setting 90.3 inches of snow fell in Minneapolis.