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Stalk integrity a concern in many Corn Belt corn fields

An agronomist says some farmers should monitor stalk quality heading into harvest.  

Trey Stephens with Beck’s says portions of the Corn Belt have damaged corn due to high winds and a derecho earlier this summer. “A lot of it got laid over.  Corn is resilient.  A lot if it stood back up and I think it’s going to grow through it.  Harvesting is going to be tough. That’s the thing we have to talk with our growers about. I know they’re in a rush to get the crop out of the field, but there might be times where we need to harvest one way to capture that yield.”

He tells Brownfield harvesting too fast could be a significant mistake. “You’re going to get plants that start moving different ways and out of snoots. You’re going to have some header loss, and you’re going to lose some cobs falling off before they get to the header by the way you push the plant, and the way the stalks are going through there.”

Stephens covers Southeast Nebraska, and says that crop is damaged but it’s still too early to determine how much yield might be lost.

He spoke with Brownfield during Beck’s Nebraska Field Show.