Four Harvest Tips to Keep in Mind
BY DAIRYLAND SEED
Harvest is right around the corner. You’ve spent all year cultivating a high-producing crop, now it’s time to see the yields roll in. Whether you’re harvesting corn, soybeans or silage, you want to do whatever you can to maximize those yields. To help make the most of this opportunity, Dan Ritter, Dairyland Seed regional agronomist, shared several tips growers should keep in mind during harvest.
Vigilantly Track Moisture Levels
Every year at harvest, Ritter’s first piece of advice to growers is to stay on top of moistures. Last year, he said one of his growers was experiencing 90-degree heat, which caused their corn to dry up 10 points a week. They thought they had plenty of time to get the crop out, but it ended up being a less-than-ideal situation.
Additionally, vigilant moisture testing can also help avoid lost dollars. Ritter explained, “Too many years we let dollars leave because we’re not harvesting at the proper moistures.”
Harvesting soybeans too early can cause them to lose weight, but too dry and growers can see lodging, mechanical damage and beans coming out of the pods. With silage, harvesting at the incorrect moisture can cause preservation issues.
From a corn harvest perspective, as soon as near ideal conditions have presented themselves, Ritter said growers shouldn’t be afraid to go out and harvest the crop to get it in a bin. He explained this approach provides growers and agronomists with a little more control instead of leaving the crop out in the field exposed to the elements.
Get Out and Scout Fields One More Time
Although it is common during the growing season, Ritter said field scouting is often overlooked come harvest. Although it might not be a priority for growers at this stage in the season, he said it is worth the time to take one more pass through the fields right before harvest.
For example, Ritter said he was recently out scouting in a field and had two or three key items he was looking for, but he explained to the grower that he didn’t quite know what he was looking for until he sees it.
“You just never know what you are going to find out when you’re in a field,” Ritter explained. “As long as you can still get out there with the crops in the field, there is potential to learn something about what is going on in that field.”
Plan Ahead With Harvest Scheduling
We can’t control every variable, but we can be prepared to hit the fields when the opportunity is right. To help get ready, Ritter said growers should draft a harvest schedule that plots out which fields they will harvest first. This schedule should be all encompassing and consider maturity groups, weather forecasts, soil type, moisture levels and any last-minute scouting report updates.
“One last trip into the fields may identify a field that needs to be moved up in the harvest cycle,” Ritter said.
One tool he recommends to growers to help stay on top of field conditions throughout the year is Granular Insights. This unique data management tool can use imaging to identify troubled or stressed areas in your fields throughout the season, allowing you to move fields around the harvest schedule.
But Wait, Safety First
Harvest is an exciting time of year, and we know growers want to get the combines out and hit the fields as soon as possible. However, Ritter said it is important to take a moment and review safety protocols with everyone who is involved in harvest. This discussion should include safety precautions around equipment, bunkers, silos and silage piles.
“People get busy and they forget things, or they take a shortcut to save two minutes, but it could set the whole operation back because of a serious accident,” Ritter said.
As you get ready for harvest this year, reach out to your local Dairyland Seed agronomist with any questions you may have, and make sure you stay up to date on what’s happening in your area by subscribing to the Dairyland Seed Agronomy Update newsletter below.