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Rapid dry down advancing Michigan harvests

A Michigan farmer near the Ohio border soybean harvest is just starting in his area.

Scott Welden tells Brownfield the last few weeks of hot, dry weather has dramatically changed crop conditions.

“We do have folks running soybeans in the area,” he shares. “There’s corn silage that’s getting close to being wrapped up, which is a good thing, because what was a green, healthy looking field of corn as you drive down the road now looks like a brown, crispy and ready to be shelled.”

He says while corn stalks are still strong, tar spot is taking over.

“It’s evident we’ve got it,” he says. “It’s in most all of our fields. Fortunately, it’s late enough in the season I don’t think it’ll have the dramatic yield hit on us, but had we not applied to fungicide in the late season application, I think growers would notice and feel the effects.”

Welden says he expects to save substantially on his drying costs and still get solid production numbers this year with the rapid dry down.

Welden grows corn, soybeans, black beans, wheat, and rye with his family in Jonesville.

AUDIO: Scott Welden