07/11/2017 (The Star Beacon) - Fall grain harvest in the county has been underway for some time now. Harvest weather has been mostly good until recently when wet weather set in.

Moisture content of soybeans has been fairly low which is essential for storage of the crop. In some fields, moisture has actually been too low with some soybeans shattering in the combine. Most of the beans have now been harvested and farmers are ready for corn.

Soybeans are a versatile crop used in many different ways. When they are crushed, two products are the result, meal and oil. Ninety-eight percent of the soybean meal goes for animal food while just one percent is for human use.

On the other hand, 88 percent of the soybean oil goes for human food, mostly cooking oil. When you go to the store to buy cooking oil, read the labels and you will find a lot of them are soybean oil.

About 12 percent of the oil is used as an alternative to petroleum fuels. They require some extra care when used in diesel engines, but some farmers like the idea of using their own crop as a fuel for their equipment.

Soybeans are the largest source of plant protein in the world and are an important crop. The United States exports a lot of soybeans to Canada, Mexico and China, a major market.

Corn harvest has a ways to go with a lot of acres still standing in the field. Weather hasn't been cooperating too well for the past week with frequent rains. Some years corn harvest gets delayed well into late November. This might be one of those years but we will have to wait and see.

Dan Keep, agronomist at Centerra cooperative, said corn is being harvested and coming in to their bins. Moisture content has been low which means farmers haven't had to pay extra to get the crop dried before storage.

Corn is also a versatile crop with several uses. About 40 percent is used to make ethanol that is used as one of our important fuels for engines. Thirty-six percent goes for animal food plus distiller's grains, a byproduct from making ethanol. 

The rest is mostly exported, which is important to help the price farmers get for their corn. A minor amount of corn is used for human food.

Farm price for corn is not good this fall. Several things go into making up the price. First is the size of the crop in the U.S. It looks like the crop is large and that isn't good for prices.

Other factors enter into the picture to determine final prices. The corn harvest in South America is important. A good crop down there means more competition for U.S. exports. More competition can mean lower prices.

Since we export a lot of our corn, that price is important to local farmers.

Interestingly, corn cobs have some value. When they are saved from the combine, some are ground as livestock feed and some are made into corn cob jelly. Local farm markets often sell it.

Since we grow thousands of acres of both corn and soybean locally, they are important to our economy. Let's hope for good weather to get the rest of them harvested this fall.