Crop Harvest and Pheasant Season

I spent the week pheasant hunting in our area of Iowa. As is the tradition here at Mulberry Grove Family Farm, friends and family come to Dickinson County to pheasant hunt the week of the opener. It was the most lean year for the opening week ever. Some of it was because of the hard winter, but most of it is that the crops in the area are still in. In a normal year many farmers are completing their field work (disking or other work that is done after the harvest) by the first week of November. This year the fields are still filled with crops and combines were only running when the dew was off the plant and or when the grain dryers were empty. I'd say that in the southern part of the county where I am the crops are about 60% out, but up in the northern part of the county 85% or more of the crops are still in. Some of those that are accepting corn such as the ethanol plant have increased the moisture content they are willing to accept so that they can keep up with their need for corn, while the elevator is saying that they are heavily docking farmers who are bringing wet product, to encourage them to dry it at home. I think we'll see an extremely slow harvest this year still yet to come. Then it will be who will get caught with crops in the field at the first snow.