Corn Soybean Webinar - Friday Nov 6

The UW Extension Harvest, Storage and Feed Management Considerations for the 2009 Corn Crop Webinar will be held Friday November 6^th from 8:00 am until 10:00 am. The intended audience includes: nutritionists, crop consultants, feed dealers, farm supply agronomists and producers. Contact your local UW-Extension Officehttp://www.uwex.edu/ces/ to find the location nearest you that is hosting the webinar.  

Wisconsin Crop Manager issue for November 2, 2009

This week is a special harvest issue along with other normal Wisconsin Crop Manager articles. Use this link to download or print this week's articles, compiled in one file.

Grain Drying and Storage Publications

Need information on grain drying and storage? Visit the link below to find offerings by MidWest Plan Service.

Field Loss Calculator

This MS Excel spreadsheet allows producers to calculate the influence of harvesting today versus allowing the crop to stand in the field and harvesting later. It accounts for higher drying costs versus grain losses during field drying. It allows the user to account for elevator discounts and grain shrink.

November 6th Webinar! Harvest, Storage, and Feed Management Considerations for the 2009 Crop

University of Wisconsin-Extension will be offering a special webinar Friday November 6^th, 2009, 8:00am – 10:00am CST.  Please check with your local county UW Extension office for locations offering the program.  The program will be offered locally at participating county extension offices. Grain crop production specialists from UW Madison and UW-Extension will be speakers on key issues related to the 2009 harvest season. 

Calculating Grain Weight Shrinkage in Corn Due to Mechanical Drying

Following harvest, a corn grower must usually decide whether to sell wet corn "as is" at a mositure discounted market price or mechanically dry the grain (on-farm or by custom drying) al a total cost the grower hopes is less than the moisture discount. One of the expenses involved in mechanically drying grain is the "cost" of the weight loss that occurs during the drying process. This weight loss by drying is referred to as "shrink" and is expressed as a percentage of the original quantity before it is dried. Growers must calculate shrinkage in order to accurately determine the total cost of mechanical drying. (For more information on determining the profitability of on·farm drying see NCH-21 "Economics of On· Farm Corn Drying. ")

Considerations for Artificial Drying of Soybeans

This fall’s weather may create situations where some growers will be tempted to artificially dry their soybeans.   It is not a good situation when growers need to consider artificial drying of soybeans.   It presents several challenges in order to keep the soybeans at an acceptable quality level to avoid dockage. Growers will have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages for their own operation to determine what is best for their situation.

Renewed interest in snaplage displayed

It is my impression that there was a resurgence of interest among dairy producers and nutritionists in harvesting high-moisture corn as snaplage this past fall. This is partly due to snaplage being heavily promoted by custom cutters who were eager to secure more business for their forage harvesting crews and partly due to the increasing cost of harvesting with a combine and processing at the bunker. Recent studies have also confirmed that if harvested at the proper kernel moisture, snaplage can have an extremely high feeding value if harvested, processed and stored correctly.

Adding Organic Acids to High Moisture Corn

 In situations where fermentation of high moisture corn (HMC) is in jeopardy, treatment with organic acids can prevent heating and mold growth.  Organic acids can also be used to preserve HMC when adequate storage space is not available.  Animals fed HMC treated with organic acids perform similar to animals fed untreated HMC.

Weigh Risk of Leaving Corn Stand Through Winter

The October 26, 2009 Wisconsin Crop Progress Report from the Wisconsin Field Office of the National Agriculture Statistics Service stated only 9% of the Wisconsin corn crop has been harvested, far less than the 5-year average of 37%.  Moisture spot checks are indicating very wet grain with unfavorable drying weather in the near-term forecast.  Even if grain moisture was dry enough for harvest, saturated soils will likely cause further delays.  This situation has caused some corn growers to consider leaving corn stand in the field until spring.

2009-2010 Dairy Cattle Feeding Issues with High-Moisture Corn, Snaplage and Dry Shelled Corn

     Cooler than normal summer growing conditions coupled with a killing frost in early October is causing high-moisture (HM) and dry corn to be harvested at higher than normal moisture contents. Dairy cattle feeding issues that may arise during feed-out of wet HM corn include: reduced starch content, fast rate and high extent of ruminal starch digestion, and mold/mycotoxins. Some of these same issues may also arise with feeding corn harvested for dry shelled corn that had been exposed to a killing frost prior to reaching physiological maturity.

Combine Considerations for a Wet Corn Harvest

Adjusted properly, your combine can handle corn between 20 and 30% moisture. However, as moistures exceed 30%, your work will be a balancing act between leaving unthreshed grain in the field and grain damage. Here are a few tips to help guide you along in this wet harvest season.

Understanding Corn Test Weight

Corn test weight (TW) is an often discussed topic of conversation among corn growers. The topic moves to the forefront in years when corn has been stressed at some point during the grain filling period or when the growing season is ended by frost before physiological maturity is reached. In many cases, the concept of test weight is misunderstood.

High Moisture Corn Harvest and Storage Considerations

Even the best plans to ensile high moisture corn at the proper moisture level are sometimes thwarted by weather and time constraints.  These types of situations prompt the question, "What can I get away with?"  Here are some factors and suggestions to consider when making decisions regarding the harvest and storage of high moisture corn.