By Gary Stone
Corn harvest in the Nebraska Panhandle, Oct. 30, 2017.
Corn harvest in the Panhandle has been progressing for several weeks now. High moisture corn was harvested earlier this month and regular harvest is in full swing. Yields have been in the range of 80-100 bushels per acre on dryland and 160–220 bushels per acre irrigated. Light snow Tuesday morning slowed harvest, but it should pick up again by Thursday.
Regular sugar beet harvest has slowed due to the wide fluctuation in temperatures, either it’s been too warm or freezing. Sugar beets do not harvest well if the temperatures are freezing and do not store well if the piles are two warm. Sugar beet yields are running 30-35 tons per acre with 15-17% sugar.
High winds in the Panhandle have prevented just a few fields of dry beans from being harvested, but nearly all of the dry beans are in.
Though too early to tell, the water outlook for the North Platte River drainage looks favorable at this time. Seminoe reservoir is 80% full and Pathfinder reservoir is 76% full. At this time, there are 1,950,896 acre-feet of water in storage. It would take approximately 964,955 acre-feet to completely fill the reservoirs in Wyoming along the North Platte River.