Kent Nunemaker of Nunemaker-Ross Farms drives a combine through a cornfield on Monday.

When it comes to corn, some folks like calico while others prefer white, or even the traditional yellow.

Lowell Neitzel, who works for Nunemaker-Ross Farms northeast of Lawrence, watches a load of corn get dumped into a hopper Monday.

But when it comes to feed corn — long a staple for the agricultural sector in Douglas County and the region — a different kind of variety is vexing producers as harvest approaches its peak.

“Because of our weather conditions, we’re getting anywhere from 40 to 200 (bushels an acre) — and that’s all in the same field,” said Bill Wood, director of K-State Research and Extension in Douglas County. “There are some places that got drowned out, and the yield monitor on the combine shows 40 bushel. Then they may get on the back side of a terrace and it shows 200. …

“Even in a normal year, you’ll have some variation. But not like this year.”

Fall harvest is an opportunity for dozens of county farmers to reap what they’ve planted: on average, 38,433 acres of soybeans, and 26,160 for corn, easily ranking as the top two crops in the county.

At today’s prices for an average year — average yields on the typical number of acres planted — corn would generate $14.22 million in revenue, and beans would bring in $12.87 million.

By the time corn harvest ends, usually by Halloween, Wood expects the county’s fields to yield close to the 127.3 bushels-an-acre average for the past three years. Persistent rains in April and May washed out some early plantings, he said, and intense heat in late June and early July damaged some tasseling plants.

Farmers will be expected to start harvesting soybeans during the next several weeks.