Corn
USDA’s weekly crop progress report shows harvest progress slightly behind average for corn and soybeans.
Specialists from Bane-Welker Equipment and Co-Alliance share adjustments to make during harvest to set up for a successful planting season.
Yields can take a 5-bu.-per-acre hit as a result of the sickle running so high on stems it cuts off branches and allows them to fall below the deck. Losses can be reduced to 1 bu. per acre with header adjustments.
Now’s the time to start making notes of tar spot pressure, field by field and hybrid by hybrid, says Missy Bauer, Farm Journal field agronomist.
The data collected by the FS agronomists, including estimated yield and number of locations sampled, is uploaded to the FS Agronomy Yield Analyzer.
Ken Ferrie expects yields to climb as Illinois farmers start harvesting more of their May-planted corn. Looking ahead, he says farmers will see some challenges from herbicide carryover in 2024.
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Remember: Weeds that never emerge have no impact on yield.
Mizzou’s Ben Brown says the 81.2 million bushels new crop export sale marks the largest week of sales for the 2023/24 marketing year to date and double the previous record weekly volume for the year set last week.
Some farmers in central Illinois are making yield estimates of 250 to 270 bushels per acre. Ken Ferrie says in many of those cases a more realistic estimate, though disappointing, would be in the 170 to 220 range.
Illinois, Missouri and Nebraska have previously confirmed populations of dicamba-resistant waterhemp. Extension stresses the importance of not allowing any seed-bearing waterhemp to remain in the field at harvest.
Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa corn projections fall below USDA’s August estimates. Soybeans are on par in all scouted states, including Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and South Dakota.
Lack of moisture and high-heat days have Iowa locals concerned about cannibalized stalks, while Illinois considers impacts of wildfire smoke and overnight temps.
Sudden death or their time to go? Soybeans dry up in Iowa as Minnesota corn faces burn up to the first leaf below ears.
This time last year, more than 36% of South Dakota was covered in drought. This year, that number dropped to 14%. Dry conditions did improve in the east, but some fear early season dryness could play out in coming weeks.
As scouts made their way through eastern Nebraska, the state’s extreme-to-exceptional drought conditions (15%) were obvious in corn. Scouts on the eastern leg saw more of a mixed bag for corn, including disease.
Brazil briefly wore the global corn export crown in 2012 because of the U.S. drought. With the ability to churn out three corn crops per year and a supply deal with China, Brazil might be set to maintain that title.
Upon registration, BASF plans to introduce Liberty Ultra for grass and broadleaf weed control in glufosinate-tolerant soybeans, corn, cotton and canola next season.
Conditions are right for the disease to break loose in parts of the Midwest. If it does, agronomists recommend three steps farmers can take to prioritize affected cornfields for harvest to minimize yield loss.
A fast-moving storm flattened crops on June 29, but the rain gave much needed relief to area crops and hope to farmers struggling to stay optimistic. Pro Farmer Crop Tour provides insights on how those crops look now.
First thing Tuesday, Pro Farmer Tour scouts saw Nebraska irrigated corn with 208 to 250 bu. yields. But a lot could change as they head into dryland corn. In the eastern Corn Belt, scouts are evaluating Indiana crops.
A heat dome will consume the Plains and Mississippi Valley into the South this week with “oppressive and dangerous conditions” expected at least through midweek, the National Weather Service reported early Monday.
Out of the gate this morning, scouts saw a high of 208 bu/A for corn and a low of 92 bu/A. In the West, the initial report is positive for South Dakota with “better than last year” the key phrase scouts are repeating.
Corn growers in 13 states have confirmed tar spot outbreaks now. Iowa leads the pack with the disease reported in at least 36 counties. Indiana is a close second. “It’s starting to explode,” one agronomist says.
Experts anticipate better prices and supplies to end 2023 after the surge in 2022 made for some of the most expensive crops ever.
Brad Nelson and Tim Gregerson farm on opposing legs of the 2023 ProFarmer Crop Tour. They share a field preview with AgriTalk Host Chip Flory, and their crop conditions couldn’t be farther from the same.
“Mexico’s decree, which runs counter to scientific findings and is in direct violation of USMCA, is negatively impacting American corn growers,” said Tom Haag, NCGA president.
Some of the research now underway at the facility is focused on improving germplasm performance, launching stacked, next-generation differentiated traits and demonstrating regenerative agriculture cropping systems.
Pro Farmer Crop Tour’s data-gathering methods are disciplined, which produces consistent results. We break down the when, where, why and how behind the numbers.
State regulations, insists Steven Slonaker, can be more burdensome than federal oversight to farmers and private landowners.