Pre-Harvest Checklist

It’s hard to believe that it is time to be thinking about harvest already. In just 3 weeks combines will be hitting the fields hard. We are already seeing the group two soybeans turn and the April planted corn is really starting to dry down. One thing to consider this fall is to look at the fields and determine where combining needs to start. We often think too logistically about harvest and sometimes need to determine where to go based on the crop conditions.

For example, there are certain hybrids that dry down quicker than other hybrids. It’s important to know where these are planted and to keep a close eye on them. Fields that dry down faster will fail the “push test” first and need to be a priority during harvest. With this year being dry I see standability being an issue because the plants cannibalized themselves to get the most yield. Make sure you are trying to push your crops to a 45-degree angle to see if they snap or not. If many plants snap that needs to be a field that is harvested first. Poor standability not only causes loss of yield but also loss of efficiency and time. Fuel cost for instance increases when having to go slower through the field. Even with the dry conditions I’m excited to get into these corn fields. Based on yield estimates I have taken I hope we are going to be surprised. Yields won’t be what they were in 2021 but I’m not seeing disasters out there.

In soybeans the only news so far is that the group two beans are starting to turn. We do a lot of field walks this time of year to see how podfill is progressing and overall, it has been slow. We caught a couple light rains over the last week but still very low rainfall for August. It’s going to be hard to tell what the soybeans will be until the combines get into them. Overall, they are shorter but nodes are stacked and there are a lot of pods and soybeans. I’ve seen a surprising amount of 3 bean pods make it through the dry weather so there is still some potential but until we get into the fields I can’t predict where yields will be at.

Let your SFG Agronomist know if you’d like help making a harvest plant for this fall.