Harvest
What you see on the cornerpost display in a combine cab isn’t necessarily what’s going on inside the combine.
Robotic harvest is knocking on the door of traditional row crop production and cotton growers may bring in the first fruits. A massive technological push steered by Cotton Incorporated aims to deliver automated harvest via fleets of swarm robots to U.S. fields within 10 to 15 years.
Moisture levels are going to be all over the board when combines roll this fall. In high-moisture situations, a few simple combine adjustments can minimize grain damage.
Corn head adjustments help prevent cracked or chipped kernels in the grain tank, grain lying on the ground after a pass and whole stalks and trash moving into the machine.
No component on a combine functions independently; the header, feeder house, thresher, separator, cleaning fan and straw chopper all interact with effects that can reach all the way to planting.
Understand how combine components interact to do a better job.
Put these practices to work to improve your corn harvest outcome.
Too much corn is not making it to the bin in central Illinois as harvest season nears the finish line. If you’re still combining, consider Ken Ferrie’s recommendations to bolster results.
A variable year means the managing the grain in your bin could be equally challenging.
Weigh the pros and cons, upfront costs and production flexibility of each storage option.
Grain shipments on some railroads could stop as early as Wednesday, two days ahead of a possible rail strike. A rail stoppage is growing more likely as the country’s main rail unions remain at odds with rail companies.
Widespread railroad disruptions could choke supplies of food and fuel, spawn transportation chaos, stoke inflation and cause $2 billion per day in lost economic output.
“In late summer, your harvest team should perform preventive maintenance on everything needed for harvest,” says Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie.
Farm Journal Test Plot data shows an earlier harvest can reap up to 15 bu.
A potential stoppage on the nation’s railways this fall is spurring concern, even after President Biden signed an executive order Sunday to keep U.S. rail traffic on track and the collective bargaining process going.
UNL researchers found that planting, harvest and calving season shave off 28 minutes of a farmer’s sleep each night, while fewer than 7.5 hours increases their risk of injury by 61%.
Arm mangled inside a hay baler, Doug Bichler fought a gruesome battle for life, determined to escape the machine at all costs.
CLAAS unveiled the industry’s first fully suspended half-track tractor—the AXION 900 TERRA TRAC (TT)—on Tuesday, in which the front axle is wheeled while the back of the tractor features a suspended rubber track.
“The answer to these questions is yes, maybe, sorta,” he says. “One of the things we do know is healthy plants handle stress better than unhealthy plants.”
It’s time to set the record straight on Indian farmers and stubble burning. We must go beyond the finger pointing and propose constructive solutions.
The Clemson EMC Calculator can help you with wet soybeans. With strips and anhydrous applications, focus on building a good seedbed for next spring.
Make adjustments to your combine now to get more yield out of the field before more corn goes down and molds set in.
David Hula is the king of corn. He continues to smash world corn records, making a repeat performance in 2019. The Charles City, Virginia farmer raked in a record yield of 616.20 bushels per acre yield.
From country to rock and everything in between, here are the top songs farmers from across the country shared with us to celebrate the last combine pass of a season.
Some Illinois farmers are combining corn with fins and scales this fall. No, that’s not a fish story.
Some Illinois elevators are taking soybeans with up to 18% moisture. Another option is if you have open bins with good air capacity, you might be able to put beans in the bin and apply air and heat to them.
In some instances, the speed of the combine and the speed of the header in combination are resulting in too much corn going out the back of the machine.
“I’ve seen some fields with 20-bu. per acre corn that wasn’t getting picked up. We’re leaving too much corn on the cob,” says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.
With 10,000 workers on strike, it’s already impacting farmers who are busy with harvest. From sourcing parts to manufacturing planters, the strike could sting a supply chain that’s already strained.
Growers who hit all three factors just right are combining monster crops this fall. Those who didn’t are seeing average yield results.