Columnist looks back on past year in area agriculture

My mom used to watch a midday program on television that started with the expression "like sands through the hourglass, . . ." and most readers will be able to complete this phrase. That is one of those "kind of strange" things that have stuck in my mind since childhood.

I have thought from time to time about what that phrase was intended to mean. Does it mean that our lives flow smoothly on day-by-day; or that our lives might tend to be tedious at times; or that we will likely get buried by the flowing sand; or whatever? I am not sure I have figured this out yet. It is interesting to continue to speculate, though, about what the new year, and the next year, and the next might hold in store for us.

A look back at 2009 for our agricultural community includes some unusual and interesting chronicles.

For example, the total annual rainfall (recorded by the National Weather Service in Fort Scott) shows the total precipitation received for 2009 at 58.56 inches. Compared to the 40-year average of 44.14 inches, we received nearly one third more than the average. Consider that along with the 57.46 inches received in 2008 and we have likely experienced the moistest (is that a word?) two years in quite a while -- that's 116.02 inches of rain in the past two years!

One of the benefits of all that rain is that crop yields tended to be pretty good -- if you could get it planted. According to information gathered by Kansas Agricultural Statistics, corn production in Kansas for this past year was actually 23 percent higher than 2008 sustaining a new record high average yield in the state of 155 bushels per acre. Total production of 598.3 million bushels was also a new record high.

Grain Sorghum also posted a new record average yield at 88 bushels per acre -- 10 bushels better than the year before.

Not to be out-performed, soybeans registered a new Kansas record too. An increase over 2008 (not a bad year) of 34 percent was recorded for the soybean harvest representing an average yield of 44 bushels per acre.

The wheat yield averaged 42 bushels per acre -- not a new record, but still producing a crop four percent higher than the year before.

This past year was also a very good year for forage and hay production. Alfalfa production averaged 4.3 tons per acre for the year, a full 28 percent better than 2008. The "all hay" figures show a seven percent increase for 2009.

Compared to the total US averages, the Kansas figures stack up favorably with grain sorghum showing the best differentiation averaging nearly 19 bushels per acre more in Kansas than the national average. The Kansas soybean average at 44 bushels exactly matched the national total for the year.

For weather and crop/grass production a rather remarkable year recently concluded. So as the sands continue to pass through the hourglass, time and the future will continue to: amaze and worry us; renew and cheer us; surprise and puzzle us; and whatever else that means. By the way, my co-workers inform me that the program mentioned earlier is actually still on the air . . . wow! What does 2010 have in store?

Editor's Note: Doug Niemeir is the County Executive Director for the USDA/Farm Service Agency. He can be reached by emailing him at Douglas.Niemeir@ks.usda.gov