It may not seem like it, given the sizzling temperatures some areas have see this month, but at least one agricultural expert is worried that overall, it’s been a bit cool for the crops.
    “We’ve been a little cooler than usual,” said Strahinja Stepanovic, cropping systems extension educator for southwest Nebraska.
    “I’m getting a little anxious to see if some of our longer-season corn and soybeans are going to avoid the fall freeze this year.    
“I feel like crops are a little behind.”
    The average freeze date in this part of the state is Oct. 10, Stepanovic said. The average date around Imperial actually is four days later, he added.
    Still, “we are on a good track to finish off the corn crop, but it’s been a little cooler than usual.”
    The soybean situation is a bit dicier for some.
    If soybeans “aren’t mature at this point, you’re going to be in trouble,” he said.
    Because farmers will plant different varieties of a given crop on different parts of their acreage, it’s hard to generalize about how far along in their growth cycles crops are now, he said.

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