Corn
It’s full steam ahead for many farmers to finish 2020 harvest before Thanksgiving. While droughty conditions have enabled a faster harvest, they’ve also created wide swings in yield based on maturity and geography.
A key piece of Ohio State University’s extension is helping farmers’ improve productivity. That includes large-scale research with efields, digging into everything from high-speed planting to questions about compaction.
In the hustle and bustle of harvest, it might be crazy to think about stopping in between fields to clean your combine. If you don’t, you might set yourself up for bigger challenges next year, and in years to come.
The first two of 16 U.S. Crop Watch fields were harvested last week, though for the most part, the producers report that harvest activity has been on the lighter side and will likely ramp up in the coming days.
Because corn went down green, and before black layer, there is an incredible amount of biomass in fields that needs managed. Start strategizing what you can do now.
At this point, is it worth the risk of tearing up fields to gather the grain only to spend money to dry the crops? Should you instead take the gamble of in-field loss and just leave the crops until next spring.
A propane shortage is plaguing the Midwest, with some farmers forced to store their wet corn until spring, but now some are worried it could also mean a shortage of anhydrous ammonia this spring.
As Old Man Winter fast approaches, many farmers will be left with a long to-do list come spring.
Snow is blanketing much of the U.S., which adds more complexity to an already-challenging harvest. Leaving corn and soybeans standing in fields over winter puts you at greater risk of yield loss in-field.
Corn is coming in wetter and with lower test weights than normal. For many farmers this might mean they don’t have the drying capacity to keep up with harvest—but does the local elevator?