Rain renews farmer's hope for soybean harvest

HOLT COUNTY, Mo. - The rain that fell Tuesday night and Wednesday morning is too little too late for most corn, which has already stopped growing. For soybeans, however, it's keeping hope alive for a decent harvest.

Holt County farmer Byron Fink felt a little relief checking his rain gauge Wednesday.

"There's a half-inch in it, plus bugs," he joked.

It's a total that would not get as much excitement most summers, but this year it's different.

"These guys feel as good now as they've felt in the last two weeks," Fink said, pointing to his beans.

Over the past month, Fink's 600 acres of soybeans have barely collected two inches of rain. He said they should be about a foot taller than they currently stand.

However, Fink said he is already seeing a difference from the rain.

"They look better now than they did yesterday afternoon. They really kind of glistened today," Fink said.

He said they're also still growing and blooming, producing more pods. It's an encouraging sign, especially since Fink is harvesting a corn crop with only half its yield potential.

Fink said his fields will fall short of their usual 50 to 60 bushels per acre, but with a little luck they can come close.

"Realistically I'm hoping that we can get to a 40-bushel plateau. But it's still going to take some good rain to make that happen," Fink said.

Without any significant rain and cooler temperatures, Fink said yields could fall as short as 15 bushels per acre.

Fink said crop insurance will cover input costs, so no matter what, he will at least break even this season.