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Wet weather continues to delay harvest

Another round of cool, wet weathers has again delayed harvest for many farmers around the Corn Belt.  Purdue extension corn specialist Bob Nielsen says the corn that hasn’t been harvested has been taking a beating.  “A lot of these fields have very weak stalks,” he says.  “It doesn’t take much for them to break over as you walk through the fields.  So any storms packing strong winds increase the risk of these fields going down.”

And if the corn crop does end up on the ground it can significantly deteriorate crop quality.

With an already wet fall and saturated soils, it doesn’t take that much moisture to knock farmers out of the field for a few days.  But with the risk of a deteriorating crop – is it better to risk compaction to the soils and harvest the grain as soon as the field can hold up or is it better to wait?

Nielsen says that’s the million dollar question and it doesn’t have a black and white answer.  “There are already a lot of fields that have been rutted up with harvest – especially some of the soybean fields,” he says.  “Clearly that’s not desirable and no one purposefully goes out and harvests under those kinds of conditions.  But the downside risk of waiting is that it may be weeks – maybe longer – before you can get into those fields.”

Because, he says, at this point in the season the crops just don’t dry out quickly.