Corn silage harvest is already underway and grain harvest will soon follow. Are you ready for an early harvest? Keep these three things in mind when putting together your harvest checklist:
1. Develop a plan. A good plan will outline in order of importance which fields to harvest first. The main consideration when contemplating your harvest order is focusing on fields exhibiting potential for Stalk Rot and subsequent Stalk Lodging. Secondary concerns include hybrid maturity, crop residue management and logistical concerns.
2. Get in your field. Once a harvest plan is developed, get out in your field and assess crop progress and identify potential problem areas. Being aware of crop progress and insect and disease pressure at all times is the best way to ensure maximum yield. If challenges do arise, you might have to harvest early. I am available to help in determining which fields may need to be harvested first. Please don’t hesitate to call!3. Prepare equipment. Make sure you check machinery and conduct necessary maintenance prior to harvest. I have witnessed growers who, due to conditions like Stalk Rot, should have been harvesting a week earlier than they actually did. They simply weren’t prepared for an earlier harvest, and as a result, they lost thousands of dollars worth of crops that could have been saved.
