Weather, market conditions should mean good harvest

year's harvest that dragged on until spring, corn farmers are poised to have a great year.

In a story you can read on today's Agriculture page, page 8, state climatologist Al Dutcher spells it out.

Nebraska's corn crop is far ahead of last year, when much of it got caught by freezing temperatures in October, followed by wet weather that kept the combines out of the field.

We've already had some frost warnings in the Panhandle, but most of this year's corn crop should be OK if freeze holds off to it's average mean freeze date, somewhere between Oct. 7 and 10, Dutcher said.

He's predicting a strong La Niña event, weather warmer and rainier than normal, but there should be plenty of drying weather.

A good harvest should mean lower prices, but a prediction Friday by a respected ag consultant, that the corn harvest will fall nearly 4 percent below the official U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts, has pushed the price of corn to a 23-month high, above $4 in local markets.

A decision by Russia to ban exports of wheat because of a drought has added to price of all grains, including corn.

Higher prices, coupled with good yields should make for a good year for farmers. We're sure most of them have been through enough bad years to appreciate it.