It’s Time To Combine Corn in Southern Minnesota

Last weekend I spent a lot of time in the combine cab. I was trying to get as much corn harvested as possible because I was heading down to the National FFA Convention today. While I did have problems getting started last weekend with the wet corn auger, once I got going it went great. It sure helps that the corn was about 17.5 percent moisture. It does not take much time for the corn dryer to take 3 percent moisture out of the corn.

The other reason I wanted to get the corn out of the field was because of poor stalk quality. Notice in the picture that almost every corn stalk is broken off above the ear. I have seen this before, but not as severe as this year. I was fortunate that the wind broke off the stalks above the ear. There was no problem with corn stalks on the ground or not feeding through the head. It did seem strange though combining corn that was only about 4 feet tall. Hopefully I can get the rest harvested before a big wind knocks the corn down.

Agronomists are saying stalk quality was not good this year for a number of reasons. The frost back in the middle of May might have been a factor plus there is no question all the rain this summer and fall was ideal for the development of all kind of stalk and crown rots. You can sure notice that some corn hybrids have better stalk quality than others. That is why we scout the fields and harvest the poor stalk quality fields first.