Grain trucks are buzzing along the rural roads of Northeast Iowa this week. Soybean harvest in that area is mostly done, but corn is rolling quickly toward a finish line.
“We’re probably a 4th done now,” says Darrick Burnikel, a farmer in Cresco, Iowa.
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) says Iowa soybean harvest is past the halfway point with nearly 60 percent out of the field. That’s 17 points behind the five-year average. Corn harvest is even further behind with just 26% shelled. That’s half of the normal harvest pace for the state.
With soybeans already in his rearview, Burnikel gets back in the field and back in the seat of his combine cutting corn.
“Last Thursday we caught an inch [of rain] into Friday,” says Burnikel. “By Sunday we were back in the field.”
Harvest Makes Progress
Today, it’s blue skies and good moisture readings on the monitor.
“Moisture of 18% is kind of the average that I’ve been hearing from everybody else,” says Burnikel. “I haven’t heard anybody say 20% yet.”
His 3-man harvest team is now in their 12th year of working together. As the well-worn grooves of experience get retread, the crew is busy catching big yields from these rolling golden ridge rows.
“We’re in a pretty good area,” says Burnikel wryly. “We’re not complaining.”
Areas around him saw wind, thunderstorms and flooding rain this season. His fields got steady, even rain and about 10 inches more moisture than normal.
“We have a good crop here,” echoes Burnikel. “It’s definitely above APH (Actual Production History). Things are looking pretty promising. We’ll know more when the bin door is shut, but right now things are looking really good.”
Good Yields Start in the Spring
A closer look down the rows shows ears stacked at a uniform height at an even 36,000 population. The roots of this big crop started last spring. An early planting window and good moisture led to picket fence emergence, helping set the foundation for big yields.
The biggest clouds this growing season have been the cost of inputs.
“Diesel has just caught everyone off guard,” says Burnikel. “I don’t know a lot of people who locked anything in, but all of the inputs, in general, have been quite high. On a [crop with] good yield, it’s not so bad.”
Thankfully, those good yields got a little protection late in the season. Burnikel sprayed fungicides to hold off some later-emerging foliar diseases.
“I think fungicide will be a good investment this year,” Burnikel says.
Good crop health and good weather have this Northern Iowa team poised to harvest one of their best.
“You give these guys two to three weeks; if they can run steady, it’ll go out about as fast as it went in,” says Burnikel. “Let’s keep the wind away and the sunshine coming and things will go quick.”
