With yesterday being the first day of fall, it’s appropriate to announce that fall harvest is underway.

Albeit it’s off to a slow start. Late last week, I saw several soybean fields from Ogden to Glidden that were harvested. I’ve heard reports of soybeans being harvested in the remaining counties I cover. From what I can tell at this early point, most soybean fields are yielding 10 to 15 bushel per acre less than previous years. Corn is also coming out, but at this time it’s been restricted to high moisture corn and corn silage. I did have one report of some early planted corn that tested 19.7 percent moisture. It won’t be long before harvest is in full swing.

Check for stalk rots and lodging; then prioritize harvest. This past summer has been hard on some corn and soybean fields due to many stresses. Many fields experienced hail damage, others ran out of nitrogen and yet others remain in good condition. Check for stalk and stem rots by pinching the lowest aboveground internode. At least 100 plants scattered throughout the field should be checked. If more than 15 percent of the stalks are rotted, harvest should be scheduled as early as possible to reduce losses. Even though plants may not be lodged, stalks that are weakened by rots can easily lodge with high winds from a fast moving storm. Moving up the harvest schedule on fields with significant stalk rot could lead to harvesting wetter corn which presents an economic trade off due to increased drying costs.

Grain harvest losses can be quite noticeable, especially if we have a repeat of last fall. Did you notice corn or soybean growth after harvest last fall? If you did you may consider looking at your combine fan and sieve settings to reduce grain passing through the combine. REMEMBER, for corn, 2 kernels per square foot on average would be about 1 bushel per acre loss. For soybeans, 4 beans per square foot on average would be about 1 bushel per acre loss. If grain losses are high consider changing fan and/or sieve settings.

SOURCE: ISU’s Mark Licht