Errol Foertsch, 80, left, sorts potatoes and Jim Foertsch, 58, grade and sort potatoes at their family farm, Har-Lo Farms, Sept. 6 in Jefferson Township. Potatoes are sold to local mom and pop establishments and at their farm stand. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle

A good corn crop yield is expected on most county farms despite a summer that brought below-normal rainfall, but hay production could come up short.

Crop yields and rainfall vary across the county, but recent yield surveys showed farms with fields projected to produce 184 to 186 bushels per acre of corn and 56 bushels per acre of soybeans.

Justin Brackenrich, a field and forage crop specialist for the county’s Penn State Extension office who conducted the yield surveys, said 184 to 186 bushels per acre of corn exceeds last year’s statewide average of 169 bushels per acre.

Some farms will see higher yields, and some will see lower yields depending on how much rain fell, he said.

A generation ago, before the science of genetics became prevalent in agriculture, a dry summer might have been devastating to farms, he said.

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