Todd Whitney, Extension Educator in Hamilton County: We will soon pass the halfway point with soybean harvest.  Some fields had moderate to high levels of soybean stem borer. Scattered farmer/crop scout reports are that a single insecticide application (mid-July) did not have much yield impact on the stem borer.  Hybrid corn harvest is mostly completed except a few later planted fields due to the June 3 hail storm. Most corn fields still have green stalks and leaves, so the main corn harvest likely begin after the soybean harvest next week.

Sugarbeet Harvest in the Nebraska Panhandle

Jessica Johnson, Extension Educator, Panhandle Research and Extension Center: Dry edible been harvest is about 70% done. Some beaneries were having problems with storage, although the rain delay may have allowed them to get bean space. Sugarbeet harvest officially started Monday; corn harvest is a little way off yet.

Tyler Williams, Extension Educator in Phelps and Gosper Counties: Soybeans are coming out fast.  Some farmers are nearly done harvesting their soybeans, some of which were still green.  This has put a hold on corn harvest, but a number of acres were harvested for wet corn for the feedlots a couple weeks ago.  Reports indicate that a lot of the corn is still testing 24%-28% moisture, and growers are trying to field dry most of this grain.  Soybean yield reports have been very good, unless the fields had been hailed.

Gary Zoubek, Extension Educator in York County: We received 0.25-0.70 inch of rain last week, which slowed the start of harvest, but now soybean harvest is well underway, with some growers over 50% done. Most reports have been of soybeans at 12-13% moisture. Yields are varying tremendously depending on whether the field was hailed earlier. Average yields from some soybeans that were hailed June 3 and harvested Monday were near 70 bu/ac which is not bad considering the year we've had. Seed corn harvest is on the downhill side and corn harvest is just getting started.

Suat Irmak, Extension Water Resources Engineer: We had another wind and hail storm in Clay County Oct. 1 with wind speeds exceeding 60 mph. Corn fields were somewhat impacted, but fortunately most corn is either mature or close to maturity so the damage was not substantial. However, soybean fields were damaged pretty badly. I lost one of my soybean research fields entirely. (We were only a couple days from harvesting that field.) The hail was at least golf ball size. There was an inch of rain with the storm with the heaviest rainfall (0.67 inch) at 10 p.m. Wind and hail storms and the associated damage have become somewhat usual "phenomena" in the south central part of the state for the last seven to eight years.

Gary Lesoing, Extension Educator in Nemaha County: After rains last week, farmers are getting back into harvest in Nemaha and surrounding counties. Quite a bit of corn, maybe 35%-40%, is already out. Soybean harvest is just beginning in earnest. Reports are that corn is very good, better than expected. A number of people planted cover crops or had cover crops flown on. With all the rain received this fall, farmers have gotten good stands of cover crops with excellent growth.  Just shows how important water is on the success of cover crop establishment.

John Wilson, Extension Educator in Burt County: Conditions here are wet and harvest has been slow. Some high moisture corn has come out, but most corn is still at 25-30% moisture. A few soybean fields have been harvested. Last week's rain generally delayed all harvesting. We really need some sunny, warm weather.

Nathan Mueller, Extension Educator in Dodge County: Harvest of seed corn and silage has been done for a while, but not much of the other corn has been harvested yet here. Average dryland corn yields have been about 150 bu/ac. Some 108-day corn had yields of 196 bu/ac. Soybean harvest is just starting and some at 2.9 maturity was yielding 50 bu/ac.

Keith Glewen, Extension Educator in Saunders County: Harvest has been a little erratic given the rains. A few rainfed fields yielded 180 bu/ac. Some high moisture corn at ARDC converted to 208 bu/ac. A report from a farm in the Plattsmouth area (several thousand acres) was of average yields over 188 bu/ac. There's going to be a lot of grain if we can get it out.

Keith Jarvi, Extension Educator in Dakota, Dixon and Thurston Counties: Soybeans are probably ready to harvest and some high moisture corn has been harvested.

Jenny Rees, Extension Educator in Clay County:   Soybean harvest is 50% done and growers are seeing some awesome yields ranging from 50-85 bu/ac. Corn has potential for some really good yields as well. We saw high winds and hail last week, which may affect yields from some areas. Winter wheat is being planted this week.

Brandy VanDeWalle, Extension Educator in Fillmore County: Conditions and field work here are similar to our neighboring counties; however, the eastern part of the county is still drying out from last week's heavy rains.

Alan Corr, Extension Educator in Dawson County: Soybean harvest is about 25% done. Areas saw an inch of rain and quarter-size hail from last week's storms, dropping some soybean yields from 60 to 20 bu/ac.

Robert Tigner, Extension Educator in Red Willow County: Harvest of high moisture corn is underway for feedlots. Soybean harvest is 50% or more complete. Maturity within fields was uneven. Cane hay is pretty much down.

Karen DeBoer, Extension Educator in Cheyenne County: Rains of 1.5-4 inches moved across the southern Panhandle last week, delaying field activity. Most wheat has been planted; a little proso millet still needs to be harvested when conditions dry down.

Strahinja Stepanovic, Extension Educator in Perkins, Chase, and Dundy Counties: A lot of high moisture corn has already been harvested. Soybean moisture content is at about 20% and drying out pretty fast. Some soybeans that were replanted early in the season are still dropping leaves.  Wheat is off to a good start with nice, uniform stands following the inch of rain we received last week.