North Central Iowa by Kevin Meyer
Conditions have improved this week in the North Central area. Although ground conditions are wet, corn harvest moved forward this week at a steady pace. Soybean harvest started up again mid-week. Moistures on soybeans have become manageable with quality surprising good. Corn moistures remain higher than normal for this time of year. Storage and drying/handling time are becoming issues with the amount of acres that still need to be harvested.
Fall fertilization and tillage is moving right along with some anhydrous ammonia rigs running. There is great amount of activity both in the field and on the roadways. SAFETY needs to be a part of everyone’s daily plan.
North Central Iowa by Bart Pederson
Harvest is wrapping up in my area with beans being finished and corn about 85-90% done.
South Dakota by Bill Eichacker
The end of the week looks to be the best weekend we’ve had all harvest season. Temperature and precipitation are finally in the farmers’ favor. This should allow most soybean producers to finish, with the exception of some larger farmers or lower ground that is still wet.
A lot of rain fell the past week and soil conditions are soggy. Consider the damage you are doing with the compaction and rutting of the fields. If corn is not at your desired moisture level, you may want to wait. Walk your fields to see which variety is standing good; check the dryness of grain and of the soil before you roll in with the combine. You may lose out on your optimum yield for next year’s crop.
It has been a good year for colorful corn ears. Corn ear molds are in full bloom around the state. Moldy corn has the potential for mycotoxin contamination. Mycotoxin management at harvest involves optimizing harvest and storage conditions to minimize physical damage and to avoid additional mold growth. Dry corn as quickly as possible to 12-14%. Storage at cool temperature will help to slow down fungal growth in grain and gentle handling will limit the amount of damaged grains. As always, be safe this harvest season.
Wisconsin by Steve Bailie
Many of local growers had a chance to harvest some of the beans still in the fields. Monday and Tuesday turned out to be great drying days, considering it is now November. Many farmers have been able to pull beans out of the fields at 13% moisture for the first time this year. Along with dryer beans, bushels have been proven to hold in there as well. Many fields of Latham® beans are coming out anywhere from 48 b/A up to 72.6 b/A in La Crosse County.
Unfortunately, the weather conditions have created a mold problem in corn. Although it is a surface, mold on the kernel it is still worrying many growers that they’ll get docked at time of sale. Corn moistures have been all over the board: anywhere from 19% moisture up to 35% moisture in some of the later maturing hybrids.
The good news is that the yields have been a little better then what many have hoped for. Last weekend I harvested a corn plot in Lafayette County, and our very own LH 5494 3000GT won the plot with 211.7 dry bushels, beating a competitor by 39.2 b/A.
West Central Iowa by Travis Slusher
Guys have been able to hit the fields this week which has helped the overall attitude of everyone as October was frustrating to say the least. Latham products have been performing extremely well in West Central Iowa with most folks in the northern half finishing up with bean harvest while the southern half is getting a good chunk of the beans out this week. Look for yield results on-line at www.lathamseeds.com.
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