The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1944-08-10
POTATO, CORN and
S0YBEAN OUTLOOK
IS FOR HALF CROP
Corn Estimates Vary Widely;
Early Potato Crop Small
est in Years
Some Hope for Late Potatoes;
Burned up Meadows Raise
Dairy Problem

After three years of bumper war
time harvests, three major crops:
corn, potatoes and soy beans this
year will return less than an aver
age yield and reliable estimates place
the return at roughly half a crop.
The outlook for corn varies con-
siderably in this area, due to scat
tered rains during the past week and
farm estimates vary from three
fourths of a crop in those stands
in low ground which have had a
fair degree of moisture to other
growers on high, drought ridden
land who state flatly that their corn
crop is all but complete failure.
Early potatoes have been irrepar-
ably damaged by prolonged dry
weather, and the loss will be from
one-half to three-fourths of the
crop i'm this area.
Farmers say that sorne fields will
barely return the seed put in the
ground last spring, and one who
dug some of his crop this week said
that he got from five rows only as
much as the normal yield would be
from one
What will happen to the late po-
tato crop will depend on rainfall
in the next two or three weeks, for
farmers already have written off
prospects for an average yield. Rain
fall merely holds the key to how
much below normal the harvest re-
turn will be.
PRICES ARE HIGH
Retail prices are rejecting the
scarcity of potatoes and early varie-
ties now on the marlxet were quoted
at s5c a peck at local stores the
first of this week.
Soy bean prospes are the poor
est in recent years and the many
acres in this area likely will Weld
only about half normal return,
unless there is immediate relief in
the form of plentiful rain.
The corn outlook steadily has
grown worse, and a stand which
looked good on the first of July has
deteriorated to the stage where
rains no longer will be of material
benefit.
On high ground south and east of
town, the yield probably will be
only about % per cent of normal,
and altho lower land to the west
and north have better prospects no
more than 80 per cent harvest can
be expected in an overall estimate.
CORN Is FIRING"
Rainfall will help the crop only
slightly now, for the corn has passed
the lear shooting" stage, and hot
winds during the last week has
fired" most fields.
Farmers eyeing the parched stands
of corn east of town are cynically
remarking that there will be little
work for corn pickers this fall. 1t
will take larger acreage of corn
to fill silos as stalks will have less
in the way of leaf foliage required
for good silage.
Early sweet corn was almost a
complete failure in most fields, and
the late crop has been damaged
more than % per cent, according to
estimates.
PASTURES GONE
While no effort has been made to
determine grass crop losses, damage
to them also has been heavy. Pas
lures are gone for this year, and
many dairymen are pasturing their
second-crop clover and alfalfa. This
represents a bad picture in light of
the feed situation. Other farmers
already are beginning to use their
winter feed supply, and unless other
feed can be obtained the shortage
may result in liquidation of dairy
cows.
Vegetable production, too, has
been more than cut in half by the
unfavorable season, and Gamers will
handle less than normal volume
of late sweet corn, tomato and lima
bean crops this fall.
Victory gardens have suffered
heavily, for the first time since
wartime emphasis has been placed
on the need of such produce, to
further add to the complications in
the winter foodstuff outlook.