Harvest Management
Fall 2009 corn came out of the field at much higher moisture levels than in recent years. Especially in the eastern half of Iowa, farmers harvested a lot of corn approaching 30% moisture during the early part of harvest. Much of Iowa’s crop was harvested at 20% to 25% moisture.
Harvest is in full swing, and some producers may actually be close to wrapping up the 2010 production year. What a change from 2009 when it seemed that the crop would never mature out. This year’s harvest came earlier than normal. Crops rapidly matured because temperatures were above-normal this summer.
Confection and oilseed sunflower producers may avoid harvest delays and yield loss due to inclement weather, disease, birds, lodging and seed shattering by applying a desiccant to the crop after physiological maturity occurs.
The Wednesday between Christmas and New Year’s was pretty good for Richard Minnick. On that day alone, he sold $910,000 worth of grain storage and drying equipment.
Tobacco growers have seen some tremendous changes in just a few short years. On Oct. 22, 2004, President George W. Bush signed the Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act, ending the Depression-era federal quota system. That ushered in changes in tobacco production, particularly from the limited quota determined by government to a supply limited primarily by the tobacco companies. In addition, auction warehouses were soon replaced by buying stations. Contracts became
Don’t let the harvest rush end up with a rush to the emergency room. Or worse yet, don’t let it be your last rush.
Out of sight, out of mind — that worked for grain drying for the better part of the past decade in many areas. Suddenly, out-of-date, worn-out and just plain inefficient grain dryers stick out like a sore thumb. That’s because one of the toughest harvest seasons in 35 years made every quirk, crack and shortcoming of your dryer painfully obvious last fall. As a result, phones are ringing off the hook in any business that sells grain dryers.
While it’s not going to rival the millions of acres grown in Canada, winter canola is getting a try in Texas and Oklahoma.