From the Week of September 25, 2023
The one-stop-shop for everything you need to know about what’s happening this week in your fields.
This week’s featured agronomists are:
Easton Schuch – Le Sueur
Tyrell Treptow – Goodhue
Tanner Borgschatz – Kenyon
Brett Decker – Lewiston
Brady Kinneman – Ellsworth
Scroll down to hear from your local agronomist, and click for contact info!
We hope you had a great summer. We’re back for the fall with your Weekly Agronomic Insights. Have a safe and productive harvest season!
WEST
Belle Plaine – Le Center – Le Sueur
Easton Schuh
With another dry year coming to a close, it sounds like this year will be a year of averages. Every way to measure our crops has been all over the board so far (Numbers as of 9/21 below). However, at the moment, numbers are looking far better than a lot of us were thinking a mere couple weeks ago. As more of us hit the field it’s important to remember where we want to end at, so everything harvests well out of the field and stores well in the bins. This year will be more important than ever to make sure everyone is on top of their harvest schedules, as stalk quality and kernel moisture will be extremely variable. This may then require us to take a field a little earlier than a normal year to minimize header loss. Lastly, as the long hours aren’t far away, let us make sure we all have a safe Fall. Crops are finishing earlier than normal, so take your time doing things and make we can all enjoy the Fall with our loved ones at the end of the day!
Corn (Average/good Ground)
Moisture Range= 13%-32% (24% Avg)
Yield Range= 0-300+ bu/ac (180-220 Avg)
Test Weight= 45-58lb/bu (54lb Avg)
Soybeans
No Numbers yet
EAST
Pine Island – Cannon Falls – Goodhue – Lake City
Tyrell Treptow
Click below to view a Crop Update from Tyrell.
CENTRAL
Morristown – Wanamingo – Kenyon
Tanner Borgschatz
Harvest has started in the last week in some areas and early yield reports have been all over the board for both corn and soybeans. Make sure to calibrate your yield monitor this fall to collect accurate yield information, to help make better decisions for 2024. Quality data in = quality data out. If you haven’t already, take a look at your corn fields for standability. We are noticing standability issues in areas of severe drought stress and corn rootworm pressure. These fields may require an earlier harvest to prevent any more loss, even if that means harvesting at a higher moisture than you normally would prefer.
SOUTH
Elgin – Lewiston – Stewartville
Brett Decker
Finally, the rain we have been looking for all summer. Over the past few days, we have received some much-needed rain. This rain has been able to soak in and start replenishing the top and sub-soil moisture levels. It may be a little late to help this crop, but it will definitely help for next year’s crop. We have started harvesting on some of the lighter textured ground where growers are finding a lot of variability in crop moisture and yield. Some early indications are showing a slightly below average crop yield where the ground was able to hold a lot of moisture and well below yield where there is not much topsoil.
As harvest starts it is always a good idea to observe fields for the weed escapes. There are more weeds that have emerged late this year due to the lack of moisture, and not letting the chemicals work for us season long. Take note of where these problem areas are and address them next year and years to come as a lot of weed seeds were produced.
Take note of problem areas like this field pictured above, where the water hemp emerged late. Leaving a lot of seeds for years to come.
Another issue to be on the lookout for this fall is stalk integrity. It will be very important to manage the harvest in these fields as they will not stand very long. With the drought, the stalks have been very deficient in potassium making them very weak and susceptible to stalk rots.
As you can see in the picture the stalks on the left are from an area of the field that had better soil and was able to hold water. The stalks on the right are from a severe drought area of the field that are cannibalizing and starting to break off already.
Have a safe and enjoyable fall harvest.
WISCONSIN
Ellsworth
Brady Kinneman
This last week much needed rain has fell, totaling in some area up to 2+ inches. Unfortunately, it came a little too late for our growing crop. One thing it did bring was plant disease. As the rain fell anthracnose and late season tar spot spores exposed themselves in our corn crop. I’ve had numerous calls this week wondering why the corn was dying. Hybrids on Corn on Corn with less plant health scores or fields that suffered more with dry conditions seem be the fields that were most effected. If you have any on these fields, looking forward to the upcoming days and weeks, we will need to watch stalk health very closely. Stalks in these fields are very weak and it may be better to harvest them early. It’s never fun to pick down corn!
Corn silage is coming to an end and tonnage was a few tons better than we were expecting. A few soybeans came off before the rain, with some yields coming out in the 60’s and 70’s. We are very excited to see what the rest of harvest brings. Honestly, it’s hard to believe what yields I have been witnessing with the little rainfall received in our area this year. Yes, we are going to have areas and spots in our fields that will be far under average. This is a great year to analyze what areas of your fields produce high yields, low yields, and ask yourself how you can manage these areas better in the future. Hope everyone has a safe a hearty harvest.
 |
 |