Cutting losses
Harvest yields down, but higher than expected
BY ALYSSA MEIER
BHG News Service
Crop yields throughout the county took a hit in the summer drought, but are showing some promise, according to Auditor Les Korgel.
“For most of the crops, it’s a much better harvest than what we were expecting,” Korgel told McLean County commissioners. “Much better.”
Korgel said in his budget narrative portion of the meeting that local crop prices have taken an unexpected turn recently, partially because of the underestimated quality of this year’s harvest.
“Crop prices have declined in September,” Korgel said. “The cause of this decrease is because of a better harvest than expected and very good crops in other parts of the world.”
Korgel said harvest so far has been surprisingly healthy throughout the county, though evidence of this year’s drought is evident in some of the other crops.
“The one crop that seems to have not fared very well was canola,” Korgel said. “Yield is down, oil content is down and the quality is low.”
