April-Planted Corn Hybrids Took A Blow To The Chin
The 2023 corn harvest is underway in Illinois, with wide yield swings showing up on some yield monitors as farmers make their way across fields.
“A lot of this corn is being harvested right now where farmers were able to get an early corn premium,” says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist, based near Heyworth.
Growers southwest of Springfield, Ill., are taking out dryland corn in the 200 to 210 bu. per acre range. Irrigated corn is in the 240-bu. range with moisture in the 22% to 24% range.
Reports from southeast of Springfield say farmers are seeing corn yields of 240 bu. to 250 bu. range with moisture levels of 23% to 27%.
On the west-central part of Illinois, Agronomist Matt Duesterhaus tells Ferrie that corn yields averaging in the low 190s are common. In fields hit by wind damage during the June 29 derecho that swept through the area, yields in the 130-bushel range are not uncommon. Extreme heat and top kill also took a bite out of the yield outcomes.
“In some of these areas, farmers are seeing wild yield ranges in single passes across the field, and they’re a little disappointed with the yields as they expected 30- to 40-bu. better than that,” Ferrie says.
“The yields are roughest in the April-planted corn, and the premature top kill held some of those yields back as well,” he adds. “I do expect yields to climb as we move into more of the May-planted corn, based on the better ear counts.”
Farmers Choose Field Drydown
Many of Ferrie’s customers have told him they plan to let their corn crop dry in the field, especially if they’re looking at submitting a crop insurance claim.
“My only advice would be to keep scouting, keep doing the push test,” he says. “Many fields will pass the push test right now, but due to the amount of stalk cannibalization that’s happened between the drought and the top kill, many of these plants have just flat run out of steam and are on empty.
"Combine operators, watch your harvest loss closely this year," he advises. "We need to check every field and every hybrid change that you have within the field, due to wide yield swings and plant health across fields. Stop in both the light and heavy soils and check for that loss.”
With the lighter tip kernels, combine operators will need to use care to prevent that corn from going right through the combine and blowing out the back, Ferrie adds.
This season, he says many fields have corn plants with second ears that hold some limited amounts of grain. “The problem is that the second ear aborted, and now you have a very rubbery cob. If we can get these kernels in the tank, it'll help yield some. But the kernels are going to be tough to get off those aborted cobs out there. Let's watch this closely. You know they don't count volunteer corn as a cover crop when the field turns green in the fall, so stay on top of it.”
Herbicide Carryover Concerns
Ferrie says he has had a lot of growers asking whether they should be concerned about the potential for herbicide carryover in the 2024 season, given the dry 2023 June that was on top of the dry 2022 June.
“It is a concern, because most herbicides didn't get enough breakdown during their first half life, meaning that some of these herbicide programs with a 10-month cropping restriction could be a problem,” Ferrie says.
The issue is farmers don’t have many options short of changing their crop rotation or doing some grow outs next March to predict potential carryover effects.
“I hate to say this, but one thing I can tell you from making carryover calls this past spring is we had a lot less issues in the fields that were worked,” he says. “Non-GMO fields especially those with a later herbicide post program, fared better if they were tilled in the fall.
“I assume chisel plowing a field in the fall and harrowing it in the spring is diluting that herbicide into the profile as well as helping it degrade,” he adds. “Most fields that got dinged from the carryover this spring did come out of it. But it'll be hard to figure out how much the yield got tapped. I hate to see a lot of no-till fields get chiseled. But it's something to think about if you're in a dry area and you're concerned about carryover with your 10-month cropping restriction herbicides.”
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You can listen to Ferrie’s latest Boots In The Field podcast here:
