Corn Silage Update

As of today our plot is just over 33% D.M. I have noticed a descent amount of silage coming off especially in the southern portion of the county. We are almost where we need to be if we are filling trenches, but we need to be careful we don't push it too quick going into uprights. Again review the comments I have below about setting your kernel processors, I believe this will be crucial.

Check you ears!

No pun intended actually, we really do need to get into the cornfields and check your ears prior to harvest. I received a call today from a local crop scout who has been seeing and hearing of 'beer can' ears around the county. This is a phenomenon where the bottom few rows of the ear are properly filled while the top of the cob is barren. This obviously can cost a lot of yield.

It is believed that this phenomenon is usually due to a cold snap when the corn plant is forming the ear (V5-V8). This always occurs in this manner since corn will always develop kernels from the bottom of the ear to the top. So what fields are at risk? Well typically it appears that it takes lower 40s to stress the corn so I dove into the this years temperature records to try to pin this down.

It appears the May 14th and 19th are likely the main dates when damage likely occurred. Hagerstown Airport reported a low of 41 degrees for both days. If we look at the fact that it typically takes 4 weeks to reach V8 (where ear development is thought to be complete) and V5 is normally about 3 weeks after planting we can assume the highest risk corn for this abnormality was planted between April 14th and April 28th (due to two dates with low temps). Obviously any fields around this period should be checked. Overall, you may want to check all your early plantings.

The main issue with this abnormality would be decreased yield when shelling the corn. If you have the ability to chop this corn for silage and shell another field it may be advantageous. Of course you will take a hit on energy in your silage as well, however it may be a better option.

Adjust those kernel processors!

As the corn slowly dries down I'm seeing some drier ears on some very green stalks. If we continue this trend it may lead to some issues in getting available energy in our silage. If you have a kernel processor you are steps ahead in this area already. However, just because you put out the cash doesn't mean it will work without some attention. When you are out harvesting make sure to take some samples early on to see how the processor is working. To check the kernels take a handful or two of silage and place it in a 5 gallon bucket. Fill the bucket with water then slowly pour off the water. Once the water is pretty well gone you should be left with only kernels. Carefully inspect the kernels to make sure they are well processed and cracked. If the kernels are not cracked adjust the processor to a narrower spacing and test again.

Corn Starts to Dry Again!

I just got done looking at moisture on our plot. In review this was planted on the 29th of April and the variety I'm looking at is a 114 day variety. The moisture this morning finally has moved from the 30-31% D.M. we have been holding at for about a week. Today we are standing at 31.7% D.M. Although this isn't a huge jump it is finally in the right direction. The downside to this is that we are to have rain today and tomorrow which means we probably won't be drying down much going forward. So with all this said it looks like we may be into September before we really get silage harvest rolling. I know many have been pulling into the fields this week but I think for the most part in the county we are still waiting. The silver lining to all of this is that we have quite the crop sitting in the field when we do start in.

Cover Crop Plot Planted in Franklin County

Today we planted the cover crop plot in Franklin County. This year we have 19 species and mixtures in the plot. It will be interesting to see how each performs. The plants include grasses, legumes and some non leguminous forbs. I will be keeping you up to date on the growth as well as winter hardiness of each species. I will also hold two field days at the plot, one this fall and one in the spring. Until then you can feel free to stop by the plot and see what is happening. It is located on Walker Rd. just east of Chambersburg. I want to say a special thanks to Ron Hoover of Penn State for helping establish the plot and Stanley Burkholder for the use of the land.

Silage continues to wait

Checked the plots again today since the research team is ready to get started on harvest. It still is hanging around the 30-31% D.M. We are sitting right around 2400-2500 growing degree days (GDD) according to Pa Pipe. This puts us about 100 days behind average. This would explain why we are seeing things so slow to mature around the area.

Soybean Aphids Continue to Dwindle

After scouting the Chambersburg plot again today for soybean aphids it appears that the population continues to decrease. As I stated before we never came close to the threshold, however now that hot weather has hit we are starting to see the populations react with a decrease in populations. The beans I'm scouting are in R6 so even if we hit a threshold population now (250 aphids per plant) it would not be economical to spray. If you do have late planted or double cropped beans make sure you still pay attention to the aphids. Hopefully the populations are dwidling all around, however you still may have heavy presure in some areas of the county.