dave.draker's blog

For the most part crops in Eastern IA turned out better than expected. The exception being in the southern most counties that were absent of rain through most of the growing season and areas that were hit by one of Iowa’s several wind storms.

Many customers have asked if the recent hot weather can have an effect on stalk quality. The answer is YES. During the grain fill period kernels require a lot of photosynthates. The corn plant does everything it can to supply the developing ears even at the cost of losing some plant health in the stalks, roots or leaves.

What a difference a year makes, especially in Southern Iowa. We had two main surges of planting, a first small surge in the April 10-13 time frame and then the main surge after April 25th. There where a few fields the did require replanting due to the onset of cold wet weather after planting. With that being said I think it is a good indication on where the seed industry has come in the way of seed treatments and genetics.

As technology in agriculture continues to advance in many ways seed treatments are not being left behind. It seems like each year our crops are exposed to many more issues, some are brought on by Mother Nature and some are management decisions.

Last year most of the crop was planted in very good conditions but was then exposed to cool wet conditions from there on. In general we get the best yield response when the crop is planted on a timely manner but by doing this we also potentially expose the crop to some of these undesirable conditions.

What a difference a year makes! Last year at this time we were still in harvest, wondering if the corn will ever dry and if there was a chance of getting any field work done. Now some are looking for things to do.