It's Promising to Be a Great Harvest in Latham Country

Northeast Iowa

Harvest has started in Nick Benson’s territory.  Corn continues to dry down very nicely.  But by the end of the week, he envisions that 25% of growers will have some corn in the bin.  Beans are starting to drop leaves.  Despite some aborted pod fill due to a dry stretch in August, Nick is still expecting high soybean yields throughout northeast Iowa.

Stalk rot is still a concern and Nick recommends that growers check their fields and make any fields showing signs of stalk rot a priority to harvest.

What is Stalk Rot?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_c_H2u8yK4[/youtube]

New hybrid lines that should not have any issues with stalk strength include Latham® Hi-Tech Hybrids LH 5376 VT3, LH 5426 VT3 PRO and LH 5645 3000GT, which from what Nick has seen, has stalks like fence posts.

Silage harvest is about 90% complete, and we’ve had some great silage results from LH 5494 3000GT.  As one of Nick’s customers said, “It’s impressive when the ears are 2 feet above your head and you can still bend the tassel to touch the ground without having the stalk lodge.”

Click on image for full-size picture.

It’s shaping up to be a great harvest.  Be safe out there and enjoy the fall!

Central Iowa

Corn harvest is underway in central Iowa. Kevin Meyer says producers have taken advantage of some great weather to try out the combines and have been pleasantly surprised to find moisture in the lower 20% and even some teens. Preliminary yields show yields a little better than a year ago, although stalk quality remains a concern on some hybrids in the area. A band of hail Labor Day night in southwest Butler County left some damage on soybean acres; 10-20% loss of soybeans being knocked out of the pods is common in this area.

Wisconsin

Steve Bailie reports that a few Wisconsin growers have started harvesting corn. On Sunday, Sept. 13, a field of LH 5228 VT3 has been harvested and ran 208 dry bushels. Many growers are going to start harvest this week for high-moisture grain. Stalk rot has started to become a concern, so it’s important to walk the fields and see what fields need to be harvested first this fall. Beans are really dropping leaves.  Latham® Hi-Tech Soybeans L2085R looks good; one Latham dealer on Tuesday harvested 82 bushels per acre with 13% moisture.

Northwest Iowa

Early harvest reports indicate what was suspected: corn yields are a little less than previously expected and soybean yields are a little higher than expected.  Tom Larson reports soybeans that had reached maturity were still pretty tough to combine due to the healthy stems, but the forecasted rain should help even out the fields once it dries up.  Latham’s RoundUp® Ready 2 Yield^TM Soybeans still look like the bean to beat.  Their late season plant health and yield ability put them at the top of the list, and with a very attractive price, they should be part of every farmer’s portfolio for 2011.  Corn will have some surprises, as well.  Tom has seen some fantastic hybrids with VT3 and Genuity® SmartStax^TM plus some customers are equally excited with their LibertyLink hybrids.

East Central Iowa

Harvest is under way in East Central Iowa.  Brad Beatty advises customers to start combining corn even though moistures may be around 20%. Because the general stalk quality is poor this year, heavy winds could blow over much of this year’s crop. Soybeans are a week or so away from harvest. Some growers are finishing their final cutting of hay; it’s a good time to spray pasture land to kill many hard to kill weeds. If the herbicide doesn’t kill the weeds, they will most likely be too weak to make it through the winter. There is also very little chance of off-target injury from spray drift this time of year.

South Central Iowa

Travis Slusher’s area on Monday received rainfall, ranging anywhere from ½ to just over an inch of rain.  Not much harvest activity is underway in his territory other than seed corn and some shelled field corn.  Many producers are setting up machines and taking out some early corn.  Moisture is ranging between 17% and the mid 20s.  There have been beans harvested in the northern part of South Central Iowa with yields ranging from the mid-40s to 50s, depending upon the amount of SDS.

South Dakota

Bill Eichacker says 85% of the corn is beyond the R5 stage with 25% in the R6 stage, which is considerably ahead of last year’s crop.  Silage is also ahead of last year with 60% harvested.  There will be a lot of corn taken out before the soybeans this season.  About 50% of the soybeans have leaves dropped, which is normal for this time of year.  Bill’s farm received over an inch of precipitation Tuesday night, and his area is 7 inches above normal rainfall amounts.

Northern Missouri

Rick Foster reports in Missouri harvest is still going slow. Beans are still filling and corn is being harvested at about 20% moisture.