Cover story: Reflecting on wet harvest crunch of 2009

Originally published in the November 13, 2009, print edition.

By Dick Hagen The Land Staff Writer

The Land — Interviewed at the recent Minnesota Agri-Growth Council annual meeting in Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Extension educator Dave Nicolai shared thoughts on the troublesome and difficult harvest season. Here are excerpts from that “Q&A” session.

Q: Outside of getting the crop harvested, how serious is the grain storage issue likely to be?

A: Having to dry both soybeans and corn created huge bottlenecks for most farmers, and a few commercial elevators as well. Harvesting capacity (bushels per hour) often exceeded dryer and “wet grain” bin capacities. So the concern will be if these crops were dried sufficiently for long-term storage. Also there is some ear mold in the field, scattered but some concern for livestock producers.

(Editor’s note: Integrated Pest Management Specialist Bruce Potter, Southwest Research and Outreach Center at Lamberton, reported the ear mold fungus being observed in southwest Minnesota is called trichoderma, a non-toxic fungus which rubs off easily and flakes off the kernel when dry. He said, “we do not have the same problems as some areas in the Corn Belt. Elevators, insurance adjusters and corn producers need to relax.”)

Q: What’s the impact on fall fertilizer and tillage work?

A: It looks like a very limited window for getting fertilization taken care of, especially if you’re dealing with urea, which needs to be tilled into the soil. Complicating this issue is that most retail fertilizer dealers have a limited capacity to get done next spring what they don’t get done this fall. Because of wet soils there may be no choice other than to defer much tillage ’til next spring. But with a significant price advantage for anhydrous, fall application should occur if/when field conditions permit.

Q: How much “soil structure” damage happens during a wet harvest?

A: Repeated traffic with grain carts and combines produces soil compaction, but what are the options? You get both surface and sub-surface compaction, often of a very lasting duration. Thanks to our Minnesota freeze/thaw season, this compaction is somewhat limited. But harvesting a “lighter” load, i.e., reducing axle weights of your equipment below 10 ton, significantly reduces compaction. Granted, farmers work against calendar time clocks so lighter loads don’t always jive with reality. But remember that 80 percent of compaction occurs on that first pass. The end result may be doing deeper tillage next spring when soils are dry.

Q: Is leaving corn standing until next spring an option?

A: Not likely because most farmers just won’t find that extra time next spring. And of course the obvious concern of field loss is a threat. It doesn’t appear that stalk rot is a major issue this fall. Thanks to modern genetics, it appears most hybrids today have stronger stalks so lodging isn’t a critical issue. Get a winter with high wind and major snowstorms could, however, be very damaging to standing corn.

University of Wisconsin data shows increasing field loss of up to 20 bushels per acre with harvest delayed ’til next April. At their Arlington station in 2001, 220-bushel corn harvested in October yielded as following when left standing: November, 208 bushels; January, 200 bushels; April, 199 bushels per acre. Hybrids showing strong root and stalk structure late into the harvest season might be a possibility for spring harvest. The most important question: Will revenue lost by leaving the crop standing be less than the cost of drying this fall? Keep in mind, however, that when soils freeze and snowfall is limited, winter harvest could be a distinct possibility.

Q: How about cranking up your storage bin fans and freezing the corn in storage?

A: Risky perhaps, but if you can lower the temperature of that grain mass over time, that can help just about as much as taking the time to dry it down to 15 percent before putting it in the bin. The “shelf life” of aerated corn dried to 15 percent moisture is 16 months with bin temps of 60 F, but that jumps to 29 months with 40 F bin temperatures. Corn at 18 percent moisture has a shelf life of six months at 40 F, only two months at 60 F bin temperature.

Q: Does this fall’s “harvest mess” suggest there may need to be reshuffling of crop positioning next spring?

A: Very likely that will happen. Without fall harvest and fertilization and tillage on a particular field, for example, using that field for soybeans next year rather than corn may be a better choice. But that is rather impossible to predict at this stage.

Q: Could this delayed harvest result in the idea of planting shorter-season hybrids next spring — like backing down from 105-day hybrids to 95-day hybrids?

A: If wet conditions persist again next spring, that may be a very logical alternative. But if you look over corn yield data, know that there is generally a yield penalty when using earlier hybrids. So you’re playing the odds somewhat. Obviously regardless of what you didn’t get done this fall, weather next spring is the key determiner. But recognize also that some of today’s “full season” hybrids dry down faster and maintain test weight better.