As they start to get into the fields for harvest, Moody County farmers are seeing average to above average yields of corn and soybeans.

At mid-month, Joe Knippling of the Farm Service Agency said, “We kind of guesstimated that the soybean harvest is probably 30 to 40 percent done.”

Soybean yields can vary depending on conditions.

“I’ve heard of some white mold,” Knippling said. “There’s been a few areas that were hail damaged or too wet. So most of all, the ground that didn’t get hit by white mold and hail are probably a little above average.”

As for corn, most of the silaging is done, according to Knippling, as well as the harvest of the high moisture corn.

The rest of the corn could be dried out by a week of solid temperatures and some wind, Knippling said.

“From silage reports,” Knippling said, “it looks like the corn’s going to be average or above.”

The five year average yield for corn in Moody County is 165 bushels per acre. For soybeans the five-year average yield is 48 bushels per acre.

“It’s probably not going to be as good as last year, but last year there were pretty exceptional yields,” Knippling said.

He credits timely rains in June and better hybrids for the county’s reputation for high yields.

“Moody County is probably one of the higher yielding counties in the state over a given period of time,” Knippling said. “Our yields have been pretty good.”