State of the Harvest

While harvest is beginning to wrap up across some areas, the overall yields this year have been better than expected. The wet spring forced some areas into late planting while creating less than ideal conditions for crop establishment. However, growing conditions during the season were better than expected for most places. Hot and dry conditions late-season sped up plant development and dry down. This left several growers chasing a crop that was quickly losing moisture. The recent onset of cooler temperatures will slow the rate of moisture loss for any crop still remaining in the fields.

Silage

Higher temperatures and dry conditions just before and during harvest caused the plants to dry down a little quicker than expected. Some silage was chopped a little dryer than target moisture, but yields were overall above average. Preliminary NDFD and starch results are also looking good. With the exception of a couple areas that were forced into late planting, most areas have been finished with silage for a few weeks or more.

Soybean

Significant progress has been made on soybeans and harvest is even finished up in some areas. Yields have been above average across the board, with several fields harvested below 13% moisture. Higher yields (70+ bu/A) were reported from some fields while others were average to above average yields. The hot and dry weather affected some of the beans that were still trying to fill pods, causing some to abort seeds under stress. Others were able to finish filling pods before the stress hit. With beans being so dry some harvest loss at the head was observed. Overall, the soybean crop is doing very well considering the rough spring it had in a few areas.

Corn

Grain corn harvest is at various stages across our footprint. Some areas are just getting started while others had soybeans and corn ready for harvest at the same time. Similar to corn silage, the grain corn had ideal growing conditions after the wet spring, which is contributing to above average yields. The hot and dry weather late-season is factoring into stalk strength declining in some areas. This raises concerns for corn lodging, especially with the possibility for increased wind events. Corn dry down was rapid during the hot and dry weather but with the recent transition to cool temperatures, the dry down will be drastically slower. Some areas are seeing rain to break the dry spell but generally not enough to impact harvest.     

Brian Weller
Western Region
507.456.3034

Rod Moran
Western Region
507.456.3034

Dan Ritter
Central Region
219.863.0583

Chad Staudinger
Northern Region
608.220.9249

Mark Gibson
Eastern Region
260.330.8968

Amanda Goffnett
Eastern Region
989.400.3793

Ryan Mueller
Eastern Region
989.400.3793

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