Ken Ferrie
Agronomist Ken Ferrie provides agronomic insights, crop management tips, and practical advice for farmers to improve crop yields.
Yields can take a 5-bu.-per-acre hit as a result of the sickle running so high on stems it cuts off branches and allows them to fall below the deck. Losses can be reduced to 1 bu. per acre with header adjustments.
Ken Ferrie expects yields to climb as Illinois farmers start harvesting more of their May-planted corn. Looking ahead, he says farmers will see some challenges from herbicide carryover in 2024.
Out East, Ken Ferrie saw good corn crops with delayed maturity. Black layer will be pushed out to October. In the West, one Iowa field had the highest corn yield check of the season, while other fields were burned up.
In-field and classroom sessions will address making changes to your crop rotation, tillage systems or nutrient placement; managing early-planted soybeans; evaluating below-ground issues that impact corn yields; and more.
Farmers with cornfields affected two years ago need to be ready this season, based on a corn-soybean rotation. Fields with high levels of residue are more susceptible, and beware heavy rains just prior to canopy.
Many Midwest farmers are seeing their corn crop struggle from compaction, nutrient deficiencies and herbicide carryover. Some of these issues can be addressed yet this season.
Farmers finding dead corn plants in their fields are texting pictures to Ken Ferrie, asking for help. Some of the culprits he’s found include wireworm, the carbon penalty, rootless corn syndrome and herbicide carryover.
Similarly, Ken Ferrie says to time your post-herbicide application in corn based on weed size and to address cutworm based on the level of damage you find. One pass in the field could work for both, but don’t bet on it.
Soil conditions, temperatures and weather outlook are aligned. “Let the big dogs run, and keep the planters running until you’re finished,” says Ken Ferrie. “This corn will fly out of the ground.”
True armyworm (not to be confused with fall armyworm) is moving into Midwest wheat and corn crops now. Many are newcomers from the South, but homegrown populations are also concerning in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.