Spring planting season appears off to good start

In an industry that can see dramatic ups and downs depending on the weather and market demands, things are looking pretty good for Northern Colorado agriculture as the region’s farmers begin the spring planting season.

Good harvests in 2009 of corn, sugar beets and wheat – due to plentiful moisture, good growing conditions and stable markets – are showing indications of being followed by another good growing year in 2010.

“We’ve had good spring growth so far,´ said Mark Arnusch, a southeast Weld County farmer, of the winter wheat crop that’s breaking through in fields across the region. Winter wheat, planted in the fall and harvested in mid-summer, did well last year and has depressed market prices. But Arnusch is hopeful that situation will improve as harvest time approaches.

“The wheat market isn’t what we’d like to see right now,” he said. “We had a very large crop as a nation last year and world supplies are up right now. But this year we have one of the smallest crops because wet fall conditions didn’t allow for as much planting.”

Arnusch, who grows corn, wheat, sugar beets, onions and sunflowers, said last year’s corn crop not only got a late start but also took longer than usual to mature, resulting in some corn being harvested as late as January.

“I’ve only seen that happen twice,” he said. “It was very unusual.”

Arnusch said the corn harvest ended up exceeding expectations. “We knew it was late and that it could have affected the yield, but it was some of the best we’ve seen harvested.”

Crop projection figures released March 31 by the National Agricultural Statistics Service show Colorado farmers intending to plant 1.35 million acres in corn – up by 250,000 acres over 2009. Corn farmers are encouraged by reports that mostly-corn-based ethanol production is expected to grow more than 16 percent globally in 2010. The U.S. is the world’s largest producer of ethanol, with 12 billion gallons of ethanol expected to be produced this year compared to 10.75 billion gallons in 2009, according to the Renewable Fuels Association.

Arnusch said Colorado farmers are banking on a continuing strong demand for corn in 2010. “Consumption is still good, the ethanol demand is still high and the livestock demand is still robust,” he said.

Sugar beet farmers had a scare last fall when a California court case threatened to derail a move in recent years toward genetically modified beet seeds, which have increased producer yields and cut production costs due to their herbicide resistance.

But earlier this year the judge in the case declined to order an injunction against using the seeds – requested by some organic producers and environmental groups until further studies of the seeds can be completed – assuring another planting season with the GM seeds.

“The genetically modified seeds are producing bigger yields and reducing our reliance on migratory workers (for weeding),” Arnusch said. “And it’s allowing us to bring sugar to the market at a lower cost.”

Northeast Colorado is by far the state’s largest producer of sugar beets, with 22,300 acres of the 33,800 acres planted statewide in 2008.

Corn, wheat and sugar beets are the three biggest crops grown in the Northeast region of Colorado, which includes Larimer and Weld counties. Weld County, one of the top agricultural counties in the nation, was the fourth-highest Colorado corn producer in 2008 with 13.7 million bushels. Yuma County is the state’s biggest corn-growing county, producing 43.13 million bushels that year, according to NASS.

Bill Meyer, director of NASS’s Colorado office in Lakewood, said Colorado corn farmers had average yields of 167 bushels per acre last year compared to 153 bushels in 2008. Wheat also had good yields in 2009, Meyer said, bringing in an average of 45 bushels per acre compared to 37 bushels per acre in 2008.

But the most recent crop projections for 2010 show Colorado farmers apparently reducing their other plantings in favor of corn. This year’s wheat planting outlook shows farmers intending to plant 145,000 fewer acres, while sugar beet planting is projected to be down by 5,300 acres.

The NASS report also shows the number of acres expected to be planted in dry beans down by 1,000 acres and barley down by 5,000 planted acres.

Arnusch said a key component to a good harvest in 2010, as always, is the amount of water available for irrigated growing. “That’s pivotal to everything, and right now water supplies in local reservoirs are excellent,” he said. “Although this year’s snowpack is still below normal, we are in good shape for storage right now.”

Arnusch said 2010 is looking good but the final harvest will again depend on what kind of weather comes to Northern Colorado this year.

“What we need is a little luck from Mother Nature, some good warm conditions and we’ll be on our way,” he said.

Steve Porter covers agribusiness for the Northern Colorado Business Report. He can be reached at 970-221-5400, ext. 225 or at sporter@ncbr.com.

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