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Drought taking toll on state's crops

FRANKFORT - The drought has taken a toll on Kentucky's projected crop yields leading up to harvest, a crop-reporting service said Friday.

Predicted yields for corn and soybeans are down from a year ago, though overall corn production is expected to rise due to this year's larger crop, according to a report by the National Agricultural Statistics Service's Kentucky field office.

Hay producers took the biggest hit from the prolonged dry conditions, with alfalfa hay production off nearly 50 percent from a year ago.

Tobacco yields are expected to be down slightly from 2006 but overall production is forecast to be up fractionally due to the planting of more leaf, the report said.

The report offers the clearest picture yet of how dry conditions threaten to cut into farm income. The production forecasts were based on conditions as of Aug. 1, coming before this week's blast of triple-digit temperatures on top of dry conditions.

Western and eastern Kentucky are in severe drought, while central and bluegrass sections are in moderate drought, according to the latest Palmer Drought Index.

Even before the dry spring and summer, Kentucky agriculture was hurt by a spring freeze that inflicted considerable damage.

"It's been very frustrating for farmers," said Steve Moore, the agricultural extension agent in Henry County in north-central Kentucky.

Despite barely adequate rainfall for most of the county, corn and soybean crops look decent, tobacco looks good but hay production has been subpar, he said.

Farmers got some timely rains in July when the corn was going through crucial development stages, he said. But more rain is needed for soybeans and to rejuvenate pastures and hay fields, he said.

"We're reminded every week just how close we are to a very hard drought," Moore said. "And yet we keep getting lucky and most places are getting just enough rainfall to keep the wolf away from the door."

The NASS report forecast corn production for grain at 160.8 million bushels in Kentucky, up 6 percent from last year despite projected lower yields this fall.

Yield is estimated at 120 bushels per acre, down 26 bushels from the 2006 crop, the report said. It predicted that 1.34 million acres of corn will be harvested for grain, up 300,000 acres from last year. This year's total corn acreage harvested for grain is shaping up as the largest in Kentucky in 21 years, it said.

Kentucky's soybean production is forecast at 43.3 million bushels, down 28 percent from the record high 2006 crop, the report said. This year's smaller crop is due to lower yield and a drop in production. at 38 bushels per acre, down 6 bushels from a year ago. Meanwhile, alfalfa hay production is forecast at 540,000 tons, down 48 percent from last year. Per-acre yield was off sharply from a year ago.

The report said the early April freeze severely limited first cuttings in most fields. Dry conditions that followed have limited regrowth, it said.