Corn Harvest: In the Bin

Another harvest is in the books. It seems kind of anticlimactic. We started corn harvest on August 27 and finished on Tuesday, September 15, with lots of starts and stops along the way. We only had 243 acres of corn, so it is not a primary crop here on the County Line.

The last load, September 15, 2015

This was our third corn crop. It was not a banner year for corn for us. Our highest yield was 73.7 bushels to the acre, but that was only a 17-acre field. The next best was 55.8 bushels per acre on a 50-acre field. The worst yield was 23.5 bu/acre on a 29-acre field. Overall yield average for 2015 was 43.88 bushels per acre.

All our corn is dryland. We had hot weather and no rain during the critical stages of corn development. We also had trouble controlling herbicide-resistant weeds.

So, how does corn harvest 2015 compare to our first two years? Our first year of corn production was 2013. We had an average yield of 57 bushels per acre, with a low of 18 and a high of 78. Last year, in 2014, we had a great year. Our average was 108 bushels per acre, with a low of 82 and a high of 145.

Here's a photographic look back at Corn 2015, with links to the blog posts telling about each stage of the crop's journey:

PLANTING

Randy initially started planting April 11, but we got rain that night and the next day, totaling 1.50 inches. Then, we got another 3.10 inches on April 16 and 17. A week later, April 23, a couple of fields had dried out enough to plant more. But when Randy about got the tractor and planter stuck after moving to another field, he took another hiatus. He started again April 28.

 

 Just getting started

GROWTH

June 1, 2015

 

June 7, 2015

June 27, 2015

July 13, 2015

 July 27, 2015

HARVEST

August 27, 2015

Harvest Kernels

We've been finding corn kernels on the bedroom floor. Hmmm ... I wonder who is responsible?

This moisture test came out 14.0, which is dry enough to cut.

Of course, if I tried to climb in and out of the combine bin to check moisture on the corn, I'm afraid I would break my neck. (See Randy doing his acrobatic act without a net in the upper lefthand photo in the collage above. It's kind of blurry, but you get the idea.) So if I have to sweep up a little corn, it's a small price to pay.

Corn harvest 2015 on the County Line started August 27. We were able to cut for a few days before we ran out of dry grain.

After Randy put corn in the grain moisture tester (see photos in the collage) and got a 16.6 reading, we waited a few days until the corn could dry out more.

We got started again on Wednesday, September 2. It was my second attempt at getting some photos I was happy with. Maybe I'm a wheat farmer at heart. I think wheat harvest is inherently prettier. The dried up corn and crepe-paper-like crinkly husks don't have the natural charm of wheat, in my humble opinion.

This year, we also have a lot of weeds, which doesn't make farmers OR photographers very happy. (I got some ideas for corn shots after seeing posts from fellow ag-vocate and Facebook/blog friend Jenny Burgess, Sterling, of Farmwife Transparency. Thanks, Jen!)

We don't have yield totals yet. However, this third year of corn production on the County Line is not a bin buster.

Photo through the dirty combine window, but you can see the corn cobs coming into the combine.

Yes, modern corn varieties have some drought-tolerant properties bred into them. However, that just keeps the "window" open a little longer for ear development. It's still important to get a good rain during that time frame. This year, we didn't.

Because we are totally dryland on our farm, wheat continues to be the primary crop for us. And that isn't likely to change.

When I saw the corn cobs left behind, I kept thinking about Frosty the Snowman's corn cob pipe. I would take more "frosty" temperatures after the blast furnace heat and wind of the past few days!

 

The adventure continues ...