We have had some corn come into both our Wanstead and Alvinston branches, but that progress was abruptly stopped today after yet another shot of moisture.
So far with the crop coming in, there hasn’t been much of a surprise. There have been some VOM tests 3ppm< , but most are remaining below 1ppm at this point. Some varieties seem to be worse than others.
After today/tonight's rain, we look to have a good long stretch of pro-harvest weather (knock-on-wood). When the fields dry up, our agronomy team is encouraging growers to be mindful of VOM potential and stalk integrity.
Unsprayed fields, or fields more prone to disease may be worth taking off earlier to reduce higher chances/amounts of VOM. The longer the corn stays in the field, the worse it can become.
Similarly, due to some stalk rot issues this year, we recommend testing for stalk strength in your corn using the pinch or push test. If the corn failure rate is greater than 10%, you may want to consider harvesting early to prevent losses from breakage.
Pinch test
- Pinch the stalk between the lowest 2 internodes
- If the stalk collapses fails the pinch test
Push test
- Push stalk at about eye level to 30 degree angle
- If doesn’t spring back fails push test
We have had a small amount of corn delivered to the elevator, with moistures ranging from 21-33%. Corn yield outlooks remains positive. Please check out our website for more information on drying and shrinkage tables.
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