Fall harvest looking good, yielding good bushels
Staff writer
Hillsboro area farm trucks and semis were lined up this week on Ash Street to deliver, weigh, and store their fall crops to the Cooperative Grain and Supply facility in Hillsboro.
Milo (grain sorghum), soybeans, and corn have been harvested by farmers since the end of August. According to co-op's general manager Lyman Adams and grain coordinator Dick Tippin, the steady stream of trucks bringing in the fall crops will continue until the beginning of November.
"The crops are looking good and are yielding pretty good bushels," Tippin said.
Tippin attributes the rainfall and cool weather in August for such good crops.
"That kind of weather in August is abnormal for Kansas," he said. "But has been good for the crops."
So far, the Hillsboro elevator has taken in 250,000 bushels of milo, 75,000 bushels of soybeans, and 113,000 bushels of corn from area farmers.
As of Tuesday, the stock market price for milo was $1.62 per bushel, corn $1.96 per bushel, and soybeans $4.85 per bushel.
Co-op crew members had to work Sunday to load the company's trucks to make room for the influx of grain brought in by farmers this week.
"We are mostly shipping milo and (soy) beans," Tippin said.
He said the milo was taken to a ground pile located in a bunker in Walton. The soybeans were shipped to a storage unit in Wichita.
"We're going to hold to the corn for now," Tippin said.
According to Tippin, the test weights for milo have been 60 pounds per bushel with a moisture content of 15 percent. Soybeans were approximately 55-56 pounds per bushel with a moisture content of 10 percent. Corn has been yielding close to 56 pounds per bushel with a 15 percent moisture content. Tippin said there is a higher limit on moisture content in corn that is allowed before the co-op institutes dockage.
"All these numbers look good — moisture content and pounds per bushel," Tippin added.
And that's a good sign for area farmers who have not completely harvested their fall crops.
