Boots In The Field Report

Listen this week to the Boots in the Field Report as Ken covers what he found from the inquiry into the sudden drop in bean yields and what to do about it next year. He reminds anyone dealing with ruts that we want to get those taken care of this year and not wait until next spring. He also reiterates his warning about waiting for the right temperature for anhydrous applications.

Ken gives a harvest update, breaks down what he thinks is the cause for the drop in bean yields and taking a harvest by the hour approach, and reminds farmers to wait until soil temps have dropped before applying anhydrous ammonia.

In this week’s harvest report Ken covers that tough cutting beans seem to be the story everywhere. He also shares information on what green stem syndrome is and what it looks like in the field. Ken also reminds farmers to continually check for header loss and as they move into tillage make sure they are getting full shatter.

Ken touches on the flooding up north in this week’s harvest report as well as the pattern his is seeing with April planted beans. Harvest numbers coming in are showing the importance of knowing if a hybrid is a fix or flex when making replant decisions and that bigger beans and more pods don’t always mean more yield. Ken mentions the high disease pressure showing up in beans fields and what that means for decisions on crop rotation and asks farmers who are seeing a lot of ear droppage to email into the office with the field and hybrid so we can try to track down any patterns. Ken also reminds farmers that with an increase in yield comes an increase in nutrient uptake, something to keep in mind when considering fertilizer decisions.

Ken gives an updated harvest report and touches on: stalk quality and how it is holding up, watching header loss, a charcoal rot look alike, and some of the data coming out of plots harvested.

Ken gives an update on what has been called in for yield reports in our testing area. Strong yields in both corn and beans coming in, but for most areas still 10-20 bushel less for farm averages than they saw in 2014. Also getting some reports of 4-16% damage on corn, mainly from diplodia. Ken also reminds farmers that along with this nice warm weather we have had his week, it brings along some concerns: Make sure you’re calibrating every time you drop 5 points or more in moisture in yield monitors that use multi point calibration. Also watching for shatter loss, adjusting to each field’s environment, shooting for 2% or less loss in corn and 3% or less in beans. Ken also gives some advice on storing hot beans and making a harvest storage plan. He reports some plot yields coming in and reminds everyone to communicate with the office about fields ready to test and plots that need to come out.

Ken gives a harvest update for central IL and explains the barren stalk occurrence he has been seeing. He advises farmers to take note of final ear counts and shoot for only a 6% drop from planted population and to pay attention to stalk quality as it is falling apart rapidly. He also reminds everyone to call into the office with a heads up on plots ready to harvest and fields ready to test.

In this week’s Boots in The Field Report Ken gives a harvest report of yield and moisture as they are being called in. Ken warns about your diplodia ear rot fields, mixing or drying them before going to town could cause more of a dock. He has also had reports of quarries starting to run out of lime or long lines, so make sure you have inquired about your fall lime needs. And he reminds everyone to communicate with the office if you need to order a field for fall testing or schedule a plot to be harvested.

Ken gives some tips for prioritizing your fields for harvest order. A lot of growers are planning on starting harvest this week to get some of the fields that have started falling apart and have standability issues. Ken also recommends checking to see if corn borers have started to weaken the shanks causing ears to fall on the ground. He also talks about taking the time to ground truth aerial images to help understand what is going on in the field and what that will mean for next year’s hybrid selection. Hit a yield checking high in a field in IA, 299 is the number to beat.

In this week’s Boots in The Field report Ken gives a crop report from Iowa and Northern Illinois. Ken also covers how crucial sunshine is to finish out this season, how important timing will be for harvest aids used to help harvest bean fields with heavy waterhemp pressure, and gives an update on aphid pressure. He also reminds those doing fix/flex plotS to stop by the office for supplies and those needing fields testing this fall to send in their orders.