by Tim Malterer  Tim.Malterer@agpartners.net

Once fields start to dry we expect harvest to kick into high gear and for farmers not to waste any time in getting the crop out. Because of this I would like to highlight some stalk and standability issues we are seeing to make sure you are looking and have a plan in place for what order fields should be harvested to preserve the most bushels of corn possible.

During this wet weather we have seen several fields with wind damage deteriorate.  It is our recommendation that you not leave these fields to deteriorate more but get them harvested as soon as reasonable.  It will be a grower’s call on whether they tackle soybeans or corn first but once you decided to take corn make sure the fields with wind damage are picked first.

Besides the obvious fields with wind damage we are seeing stalk quality issues in many fields.  These issues are hiding yet but with this extended period of wet weather they will become far more evident.  It will be very important for you to walk your corn fields and do a push test in them to see which fields need priority for harvesting.

The push test is easy as all you have to do is walk in and push on the corn plants till the tops touch the row of corn next to them in 30” rows.  If they come back to vertical, you are good and if they don’t come back you have a problem.  You should do this to several plants in the same area as you will find plants right next to each other where one is good, and one is not good.  For those fields that have the most plants which do not recover from the push test, you should prioritize harvesting them so you can get the corn out of the field with the least number of headaches.

If you would like help with assessing your fields, please contact your Ag Partners agronomist and we can come help you determine which fields should be prioritized!