Category Archives: 2011 Harvest

Changing Seasons, Changing Times

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Mark Lawson (Indiana)

Falling temperatures and falling leaves, it’s not hard to figure out how this season came to be known as “fall”. Turning back clocks and getting some field work done. We don’t see much fall plowing anymore but we do see spray rigs and fertilizer trucks in the fields. Fall weed control programs are now a part of the cropping system. It used to be plow, disc, plant, cultivate, harvest and fall tillage if you had heavy black ground. It was … Continue reading →

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Good Ear, Bad Ear – Part 2

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Rich Lee (Iowa)

Once again, here are the same two ears from my last posting. Both ears came from the same field. So why did the ear on the right not fill out as well as the one on the left? The simple answer is compaction, but that simple answer is only where the story begins. As with most field problems, there will usually be more than one thing at the cause. In this case the compacted part of the field caught a … Continue reading →

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Good Corn, Bad Corn. That Tale of the Tip

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Rich Lee (Iowa)

Harvest is an excellent time to look at your ears, your corn ears that is. Bits and pieces of the entire growing season can be seen on the ears that are now heavy in the husk and waiting for harvest. One of the easiest stories to read is the stress that came during grain fill. Below are two ears from different hybrids from the same field. The ear on the left is a “good” ear for a flex type hybrid. … Continue reading →

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New Diagnostic Tool Provides Quick Goss’s Wilt Confirmation

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Bob Kacvinsky (Nebraska)

There is a new diagnostic field test available that can identify Goss’s Wilt in corn. Goss’s Wilt is a bacterial infection caused by Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. nebraskensis. The field diagnostic test, an ImmunoStrip® test from Agdia, can identify Goss’s Wilt within the leaf tissue. Goss’s Wilt, a past problem in the western plains, has dramatically increased its foot print throughout the plains and into the central Corn Belt. Factors that can increase severity include: Corn on corn rotations Surface crop … Continue reading →

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Do Your Ears Hang Low?

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Barry Soliday (Illinois)

Do your ears hang low? Do they wobble to and fro? Can you get them off the ground? Can you make out the row? Yep, it has been one of those years for many of us. If you think you are alone harvesting down corn, let me assure you that you are not. The real question is how did we get here? Well, it all started this spring… We started off the season with a very wet spring. Some of … Continue reading →

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Managing Stalk Lodging and Assessing Yield Performance

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Mark Lawson (Indiana)

September brought the rains we wanted in July and August, a bit over 5 inches at this writing and it’s raining now. The early yield reports reflect the truism that “rain makes grain”. One farmer from the southern part of our county reported a corn yield of some 90 bushels. At the other extreme, I rode with a customer while the yield monitor was bouncing between 220 and 250 bushels per acre. The extremely dry weather caused hybrids to die … Continue reading →

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