Farmers get dry stretch to combine corn left overwinter
By Jean Caspers-Simmet
simmet@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 04/15/2010 8:49 AM
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NEW HARTFORD, Iowa —Ted Junker and his crew were combining his last corn field March 31. The field was on low ground along Beaver Creek west of New Hartford.
The combine monitor showed that the field, which had been replanted several times and flooded several times last summer, and then flooded again this spring, wasn't doing too badly.
Junker combined a couple of other fields earlier last week. Corn moisture last fall was 25 percent to 30 percent. It was 14 percent to 15 percent last week.
Yield on the better fields was 200 bushels per acre. In the better parts of the field that had been flooded, the yield monitor showed 185 bushels to the acre with 14.5 percent moisture.
"The corn stood pretty well over the winter," Junker said. "There was a little loss where the snow banks knocked down the corn along the edges."
Junker was putting applying anhydrous and doing spring tillage as well last week to get ready for planting.
"Normally, if you're combining and putting on anhydrous at the same time, it's in the fall not the spring," he said with a grin. "We had a wet summer, a wet fall and then it snowed and snowed. March has treated us well with warm, dry weather."
Southwest of Junker, Glen Johnson of Parkersburg tilled ground he had finished combining the day before.
He left 20 acres last fall because the corn was 32 percent moisture. When he combined it last week, it was 16 percent when he started and 13.8 percent when he finished.
"I left it because it was going to cost so much to dry it, and it was hard to combine because the cobs were still soft," Johnson said. "I'm surprised at how much it dried down."
He said he didn't lose much yield.
"Overall, the corn stood very well," Johnson said.
If the weather stays nice, Johnson will start planting corn around April 20.
Paul, Max and Gordon Hunter had a couple hundred acres of corn left over the winter on their farm near Decorah. They finished combining March 26. Paul Hunter said they combined corn at 13 percent to 14 percent moisture. It picked up 1 to 1.5 pounds of test weight over the winter. Yield was over 200 bushels per acre.
"We had hardly any stand loss," he said.
The Hunters ahope to start planting corn on April 20.
Brian Lang, Iowa State University Extension agronomist based in Decorah, said most farmers in his area have been able to get standing corn combined this spring.
Most of the corn stood well over the winter, but Lang was in a few fields that had small to moderate areas that were heavily lodged.
"Most of the grain moistures were between 14 and 17 percent," he said. "Most are yielding just fine, considering."
Bill Arndorfer, an ISU Extension field agronomist, is coordinating a survey of corn fields that stood through the winter. He collected 60 samples around Iowa from corn fields left over the winter.
"We wanted information on how well the corn overwintered and to see if there were more molds," Arndorfer said.
ISU researchers will look at molds on the ear and test for mycotoxins and also measure grain quality, protein, moisture, oil and starch.