Interesting Hay and Grain Show at Geauga County Fair
How much more time will corn and soybeans need to reach maturity and harvest stage this fall? The question is a topic of conversation among…
How much more time will corn and soybeans need to reach maturity and harvest stage this fall? The question is a topic of conversation among many farmers. The answer depends on when the corn or beans were planted, number of growing season days needed for the variety planted and the weather yet this fall.
One grower told me his crops need about another three weeks, but if we have warm days and nights, then maybe only two weeks. What local farmers do not want is an early frost around mid- September.
When I was judging hay and grain at the Great Geauga County Fair over Labor Day, I had a chance to see a limited number of samples of both corn and soybeans from the county. Several samples of this year’s corn were surprisingly mature for the time of the year and, given the planting season, for the year. No, they were not ready for harvest, but well-dented and drying out.
Stalks of standing corn grown this year were also doing fairly well. Some had ears also dented and fairly mature, but again, not ready for harvest.
Stalks of soybean plants showed a wide range of maturity. Some pods were fairly well filled out. In others, the pods were filling, but the beans had not developed much. Plants were showing good growth for the year and most had a good number of pods on them.
Hay samples were interesting. We had very few first cutting samples, which reflect weather conditions in late May and early June. There were many second and third cutting samples and some of these were top quality indicating some good hay is in the haymow for winter. In judging hay, we’re looking for color, leafiness, odor and weeds or other foreign material.
Samples of seeds have some of the same criteria, but also include uniformity of the seeds along with size, color, odor and seeds other than the sample.
Judging can be challenging and judges want to be fair to the exhibitor. At the same time, judges want exhibitors to be fair to others and not submit samples from the same bale or bin under different names.
Geauga County Fair deserves many compliments. It has beautiful, well-kept grounds. Buildings are well maintained and scattered throughout the grounds. It has a nice wildlife area with several events for everyone.
David Parker (no relation) is the fair board director in charge of the hay and grain exhibits. His wife Nancy works with the judges to record placings and keep track of scores. Both Nancy and David are nice people to work with and make the judging enjoyable.
When finished judging, Nancy took the group on a tour of the fair on her golf cart. It was an enjoyable way to get an overview of the fair. Judges were tired from their work and had a great time riding around the fair.
It was a perfect fair day with temperatures in the mid-70s and a nice breeze. For the first day, there was a good turnout of people.
Now that the local fairs are over and fall work begins, let’s hope for a warm dry fall that allows grain crops to mature and farmers to have a good harvest. They are going to need it because grain prices for both corn and beans do not look good this fall. Farmers may a price get below what it costs them to produce their crops when they harvest them, which is not a good situation.
They need every break they can get.
Parker is an independent agricultural writer.
