Chad Carter uses his Gleaner combine to harvest four rows of corn at a time in a field south of Paola. The 12-acre upland ground field he harvested last week averaged 140 bushels per acre, he said.
Join our Mailing List!
Please click the link below to sign up for your community paper mailing list. Stay up to date with all the events going on in your community as well as the latest news.Sign Up Today!
Corn harvest nearly complete
Cool weather could slow maturation of soybean crops, dry-down could be a problem with an early freeze
By Bob Harrington, bharrington@miconews.com
The fall harvest of corn and soybeans got under way last week throughout the county. Yields appeared to be good in the early stages.
Randy Kitchen, who farms west of Osawatomie, was nearly done with his corn harvest late last week, while Jared and Rich Ryckert, west of Paola, switched to their soybean harvest last Wednesday afternoon. Jared said the beans were running small, but they were of good quality.
Chad Carter completed harvesting a 12-acre field of corn south of Paola on Thursday afternoon. He started on the field late Wednesday and found the grain to be dry, running 15 percent moisture, so he decided “to get with it” Thursday afternoon. He then moved to other corn fields, as none of his soybeans were mature enough to harvest.
“This has been a strange year,” Carter said. “I planted 173-day corn, but it took longer than that to get dry. We had September weather in August and August weather in September.”
But he had a real treat when he figured the return on the 12-acre patch produced 140 bushels per acre.
“You wouldn’t believe it,” he exclaimed. “I wonder what the bottom (land) corn will make!”
Bottomland corn normally tops upland ground in production because of fertility and moisture. But as Carter said, “This is a strange year.”
Samples from Carter’s field won him grand-champion honors in the open class at the Miami County Fair. He knew it was good. He also knows the kernels were slow to dry.
“Unusually cool weather through much of August and early September in the central High Plains is sparking concern that crops may not reach maturity before the first freeze,” according to Mary Lou Peter-Blecha of Kansas State University.
“Most fields will probably reach maturity before the first freeze, but dry-down could be a problem,” said Kansas State University agronomist Kraig Roozeboom. “The first freeze would be when temperatures across a region drop to a growth-halting 28 degrees Fahrenheit rather than when the mercury dips to 32 degrees.”
Development and maturation of most summer crops are driven by temperature. Corn and sorghum are especially dependent on temperature, while soybean and cotton flowering and maturation depend on a combination of day length and temperature, according to Roozeboom.
He added that formulas used to describe the relationship between temperature and crop growth use the heat unit concept, and growing degree units are calculated for each crop based on the sensitivity of that crop to high or low temperatures. The formula for each crop is available at the Miami County Extension office, 294-4306.
While it is expected corn yields will be good on most upland ground, some of the bottomland flooded, ruining crops, while some were damaged. One known factor is the cost of planting corn, which averages $300 per acre, said Mark Flory, Miami County Extension agricultural agent. That does not include any chemical burn-down or tilling once the plants have emerged, he added. On the local market, corn has been averaging more than $5 per bushel.
Beachner Grain Co. kept its North Elevator open in Paola over the weekend to receive grain. More soybeans were dumped than corn, and it was mostly dry.
printable version
e-mail this story
Randy Kitchen, who farms west of Osawatomie, was nearly done with his corn harvest late last week, while Jared and Rich Ryckert, west of Paola, switched to their soybean harvest last Wednesday afternoon. Jared said the beans were running small, but they were of good quality.
Chad Carter completed harvesting a 12-acre field of corn south of Paola on Thursday afternoon. He started on the field late Wednesday and found the grain to be dry, running 15 percent moisture, so he decided “to get with it” Thursday afternoon. He then moved to other corn fields, as none of his soybeans were mature enough to harvest.
“This has been a strange year,” Carter said. “I planted 173-day corn, but it took longer than that to get dry. We had September weather in August and August weather in September.”
But he had a real treat when he figured the return on the 12-acre patch produced 140 bushels per acre.
“You wouldn’t believe it,” he exclaimed. “I wonder what the bottom (land) corn will make!”
Bottomland corn normally tops upland ground in production because of fertility and moisture. But as Carter said, “This is a strange year.”
Samples from Carter’s field won him grand-champion honors in the open class at the Miami County Fair. He knew it was good. He also knows the kernels were slow to dry.
“Unusually cool weather through much of August and early September in the central High Plains is sparking concern that crops may not reach maturity before the first freeze,” according to Mary Lou Peter-Blecha of Kansas State University.
“Most fields will probably reach maturity before the first freeze, but dry-down could be a problem,” said Kansas State University agronomist Kraig Roozeboom. “The first freeze would be when temperatures across a region drop to a growth-halting 28 degrees Fahrenheit rather than when the mercury dips to 32 degrees.”
Development and maturation of most summer crops are driven by temperature. Corn and sorghum are especially dependent on temperature, while soybean and cotton flowering and maturation depend on a combination of day length and temperature, according to Roozeboom.
He added that formulas used to describe the relationship between temperature and crop growth use the heat unit concept, and growing degree units are calculated for each crop based on the sensitivity of that crop to high or low temperatures. The formula for each crop is available at the Miami County Extension office, 294-4306.
While it is expected corn yields will be good on most upland ground, some of the bottomland flooded, ruining crops, while some were damaged. One known factor is the cost of planting corn, which averages $300 per acre, said Mark Flory, Miami County Extension agricultural agent. That does not include any chemical burn-down or tilling once the plants have emerged, he added. On the local market, corn has been averaging more than $5 per bushel.
Beachner Grain Co. kept its North Elevator open in Paola over the weekend to receive grain. More soybeans were dumped than corn, and it was mostly dry.