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Grain storage concerns rising following derecho

Grain storage is one of the biggest concerns for a central-Iowa based agronomist following last week’s derecho. 

Matt Nelson with Channel says the storage capacity in Eastern Iowa has taken a huge hit.  “I don’t really know if anyone has a great answer to that on what that’s going to look like at harvest time this year,” he says.  “I would imagine that it’s in co-op’s best interests to have the grain from some of these really affected fields that’s maybe low quality, is a candidate to be stored outside.”

He tells Brownfield he anticipates a lot of lower-quality grain being harvested this fall from affected fields.  “Lodging can increase susceptibility to disease,” he says.  “Those plants are on the ground so they can become infected easier.  Farmers are going to want to start harvesting those fields pretty early, which means wet grain.  That brings up the question, ‘What to we do with this wet grain?’.” 

Nelson says some farmers are considering bagging their grain following harvest, but he says they should weigh all options before making that decision. 

AUDIO: Matt Nelson, central-Iowa agronomist with Channel