Farm Horizons
•
Oct. 10, 2016
Research Center has now recorded 35 inches of rainfall in the past three months since July 1.
Harvest delays
In addition to the property and infrastructure damage caused by the extreme rainfall and flooding, there
will likely be considerable crop loss, along with potential major delays in the 2016 corn and soybean harvest.
The corn and soybean fields near any rivers, streams
or creeks will likely be a total loss in most of the region, as will most other low lying, poorly drained portions of farm fields.
Many of these fields had some fairly good yield potential prior to the storms and flooding; however, in
some locations, portions of these fields had already
been damaged from storms and heavy rains back in
June.
Most farmers in southern Minnesota and northern
Iowa were dealing with completely saturated soil conditions, which was likely to delay soybean and corn
harvest across the entire region.
A majority of soybeans in the region was nearly
ready to harvest, as well as a considerable amount of
corn. It would be at least several days in the best case
before field conditions were fit for harvesting. In many
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fields farmers would be forced to combine a portion
of the field, leaving the balance until the fields dry
out.
Soybean harvesting was the immediate concern for
most producers. Once the soybeans are mature, they
dry down rather rapidly in the field, especially with
warm, sunny weather conditions. Once this occurs,
the soybean pods can “pop open” in the field prior to
harvest.
There was also concern regarding the stem strength
of the soybeans that were in partial standing water for
several days. If field conditions remain too wet to harvest the soybeans for a long period, there is potential
for considerable field loss during soybean harvest.
The wet field conditions also increase corn harvest
concerns in the region. Some corn has been damaged by strong winds and hail that occurred in severe
storms during the 2016 growing season in some locations.
The storm-damaged corn, together with a higher
than normal incidence of stalk rots, increases the
likelihood of more stalk breakage in corn this fall.
This problem will likely increase later in the fall, especially in fields with considerable amounts of standing water.
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