If you haven't noticed, it's hot outside.
It's also been mostly dry across a lot of Louisiana this summer, which has led to an earlier corn harvest in the state.
So early, in fact, that the USDA Crop Progress Report for this week doesn't show any acres of corn being harvested yet.
It may be ahead of schedule, but this is the silver lining to the hot, dry summer that St. Landry Parish famer Kirk Stelly has watched his corn crop endure.
“It is probably ten, 12 days earlier, and we normally start harvesting," Stelly says.
Minimal rain in June helped his corn mature early, but Stelly says he's excited to get this crop out of the field.
“And we're glad we're glad to get it out faster. But because you never know with the weather in the future what's going to happen," Stelly says.
That's the reality all farmers know too well, especially those in south Louisiana - who are always watching for a storm in the gulf.
“Well, that's our biggest fear, you know, And that in turn, has made us borrow more money instead of grain bins to be able to start a little earlier and get the corn dried out a little faster, you know, So so we're moving most of the beginning corn through those bins," Stelly says.
Though it's early, Stelly says he's seeing good yields so far, and the quality of the corn also is very good.
"We're going to have some good spots and some bad spots, you know, but the beginning harvest right now, the test weight is running 58 and 59. And that's awesome. You know, so the quality of the corn is great. You know, just some areas, the yield is down and hopefully it stays with the good quality and the yields," Stelly says.
For Stelly, that's a relief after a late freeze this spring stunted some of his corn.
"We did have to replant a few acres of the early corn but it wasn't a whole lot of it. Uh, same situation. In the coming years we would do it again because if we can get our corn planted earlier and get it off earlier and hopefully avoid hurricanes and all the other unknowns, we would do it again," Stelly says.
Other Louisiana farmers also have begun harvesting corn, up in Northeast Louisiana. The state has around 580,000 acres of corn this year, up 130,000 acres from last year.
