News

Michigan corn yields estimated 8% lower

The Between the Rows crop tour reports a final yield estimate for Michigan corn yields eight percent lower than last year.

Jim Zook with Michigan Corn tells Brownfield yield losses weren’t as low as they anticipated ahead of the tour.  “We did have Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw Bay, Clinton, Gratiot, kind of that angle all the way down to Barry County, we did see a reduction in the yield that farmers can expect in the fields.”

He says yield checks throughout Lapeer, Sanilac and St. Clair were unchanged from last year’s tour and the checkoff took yield counts from the southwest for the first time this year.  “When we moved to the east and southeast, we did see an increase of about seven percent in those areas.”

He says the final weighted average for Michigan corn yields is 156 bushels, one bushel shy of USDA’s September estimate.

Zook says throughout the tour there were reports of ear retention and corn borer issues, and recommends farmers start harvesting as soon as the corn crop hits about 25 percent moisture because of continued crop stress this season.

AUDIO: Interview with Jim Zook