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| Crop Progress |
The above normal temperatures hastened emergence of winter wheat and dry down of fall crops. Precipitation of an inch or more was limited to the eastern third of the State and portions of the Panhandle. Seed corn and silage harvests were winding to a close. Dry bean and sugarbeet harvests were active. There were 6.0 days suitable for fieldwork. Topsoil moisture supplies rated 7 percent very short, 24 short, 64 adequate, and 5 surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies rated 7 percent very short, 25 short, 65 adequate, and 3 surplus.
Field Crops Report:
Corn condition rated 1 percent very poor, 5 poor, 20 fair, 57 good, and 17 excellent. Corn mature was 69 percent, ahead of 60 last year and the five-year average of 61. Harvested was 7 percent, near 9 last year, and behind 13 average.
Sorghum condition rated 0 percent very poor, 1 poor, 14 fair, 61 good, and 24 excellent. Sorghum mature was 63 percent, ahead of 52 last year, and well ahead of 40 average. Harvested was 11 percent, ahead of 2 both last year and average.
Soybeans condition rated 1 percent very poor, 3 poor, 19 fair, 59 good, and 18 excellent. Soybeans dropping leaves was 75 percent, near 74 last year, and ahead of 68 average. Harvested was 9 percent, near 10 both last year and average.
Winter wheat planted was 72 percent, ahead of 63 last year and 61 average. Emerged was 42 percent, well ahead of 20 last year and 21 average.
Alfalfa fourth cutting was 71 percent, behind 87 last year and 78 average.
Livestock, Pasture and Range Report:
Pasture and range conditions rated 3 percent very poor, 8 poor, 25 fair, 56 good, and 8 excellent. Stock water supplies rated 1 percent very short, 10 short, 88 adequate, and 1 surplus.
IOWA CROP PROGRESS & CONDITION REPORT
Although southeast Iowa had 6.4 days suitable for fieldwork, statewide there were just 3.6 days suitable for the week ending September 25, 2016, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Above normal precipitation with localized heavy rains led to reports of fields with standing water. Activities for the week included chopping corn for silage, and some corn and soybean harvest. Excessive rains have raised concerns about crop damage and pasture condition in certain parts of the State.
Topsoil moisture levels rated 1 percent very short, 2 percent short, 67 percent adequate and 30 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture levels rated 1 percent very short, 4 percent short, 73 percent adequate and 22 percent surplus.
Seventy-two percent of the corn crop was mature or beyond, 3 days ahead of last year, and 2 days ahead of the five-year average. Corn harvest slowed due to wet conditions, but there were scattered reports of corn for grain being harvested. Corn condition rated 82 percent good to excellent.
Ninety-three percent of soybeans were turning color or beyond, 3 days ahead of last year’s pace. Sixty-eight percent of soybeans were dropping leaves or beyond, 3 days ahead of average. Soybean harvest has begun where field conditions were dry enough. Soybean condition rated 81 percent good to excellent.
The third cutting of alfalfa hay advanced only one percentage point, to 96 percent, due to the week’s abundance of rain. Pasture condition rated 65 percent good to excellent. While above normal temperatures were beneficial for livestock conditions, grazing livestock had to move to higher ground as lowland pastures flooded in north central and northeastern Iowa. Outdoor feedlots also became muddy.
U.S. Corn, Soybean Harvests Lag Average Pace
Corn and soybean harvest progress was lagging an average pace as of Sept. 25, according to USDA's latest Crop Progress report released Monday. Corn harvest is 4 percentage points behind the five-year average and soybean harvest is 3 percentage points behind.
The nation's corn crop is 97% dented and 73% mature, compared to 93% and 53% last week, 96% and 66% last year, and five-year averages of 96% and 64%. Corn condition held steady at 74% good to excellent.
Sixty-eight percent of the nation's soybeans were dropping leaves, compared to 46% last week, 69% last year and a 64% average. Soybean condition remained steady at 73% good to excellent.
Winter wheat planting is 30% complete, compared to 17% last week, 28% last year and a 30% average. Winter wheat is 8% emerged, compared to 6% last year and an 8% average.
Sixty-three percent of cotton had bolls opening, compared to 48% last week, 66% last year and a 65% average. Cotton harvested was reported at 10%, compared to 6% last week, 10% last year and a 10% average. Cotton condition held steady at 48% good to excellent.
Seventy-three percent of the rice crop was harvested, compared to 64% last week, 65% last year and a 59% average.
Sorghum was 94% coloring, compared to 88% last week, 94% last year and an 87% average. Sorghum harvest was 34% complete, compared to 29% last week, 35% last year and a 32% average. Sorghum condition held steady at 66% good to excellent.
Brazil Soy Planting Begins
It's been 10 days since the Brazilians have been allowed to plant soybeans in the principal producing states of Mato Grosso and Parana, but fieldwork until now has been slow amid spotty rainfall.
Weather forecasts indicate precipitation will remain sparse for the next month, and there may even be a mini dry spell in early October. But, unlike last year, rain is expected to return with a vengeance in the second half of October.
In 2015, Mato Grosso farmers who planted early in September suffered heavy losses after rain stopped and didn't return to many areas until late October. That contributed to Mato Grosso suffering the first drop in harvested area in six years.
According to the Mato Grosso Agricultural Economy Institute (IMEA), planted area in Mato Grosso will recover marginally to 23.1 million acres in 2016-17. Planting efforts reached 1.2% as of Friday, said IMEA. That is a bit slow, but not that significant as planting only traditionally gets under way in October.
The outlook for Parana, the No. 2 state in southern Brazil, is slightly more positive. There is more rain in the charts in the second half of September, but heavy, consistent rains are only really expected to start falling in later October.
According to the Parana state agricultural secretariat, farmers in the state had planted 3% of the crop up to Sept. 19, behind the 5% planted at the same stage of last year.
Brazil is on course to produce a bumper crop in 2016-17 with a consensus that the crop will be in the range of 102.5 to 105 million metric tons, up around 5% on last year.
Set Soybean Harvest Goal of 13% Moisture to Aid Profits
Randy Pryor - Extension Educator, Saline County
Most soybeans are harvested and delivered directly to an elevator instead of being placed in on-farm storage. Too often, soybeans are harvested at moisture contents under the 13% definition of a standard bushel. The marketplace pays farmers as if they delivered soybeans at 13% moisture. That's why 13% moisture needs to be the goal — delivering soybeans below or above that goal reduces profits.
Greater than 13%, there is a moisture dock on the scale ticket for delivering wet beans, resulting in a lower price per bushel. Less than 13%, there are fewer “bushels” to sell rather than a dockage on the ticket. There are fewer bushels because the load weight is divided by 60 pounds per bushel (assuming 13% moisture) rather than by the actual pounds per bushel for the moisture content of the beans at the time of delivery
A study of farmer practices was conducted in Hamilton and York counties by former extension educators Andy Christiansen and Gary Zoubek. They collected information from 115 truckloads of soybean that were harvested and being delivered to the elevators. Of those sampled, 5 loads were less than 8.9% moisture; 14 loads were 9-9.9%; 28 loads were 10-10.9%; 27 loads were 11-11.9%; 29 loads were 12-12.9%; 9 loads were 13-13.9% and only 3% loads were 14-14.9% moisture.
What difference does harvesting and selling soybeans at 8% or 9% compared to 13% moisture mean to your bottom line?
If you sell soybeans at 8% moisture, you're losing about 5.43% of your yield; at 9% moisture, it's 4.4%; at 10% moisture, 3.3%; at 11% moisture, 2.25%; and at 12% moisture, it's 1.14% yield loss. That does not take into account additional risk for shatter losses during harvest. For a field that's yielding 75 bu/ac, harvesting it at 9% results in selling 3.3 fewer bushels per acre based on weight because you are not selling the water that you are entitled to sell if the beans were at 13% moisture. With soybeans priced at $9/bushel, that's a loss of about $30 per acre.
So what can you do? Everyone knows that it is impossible to harvest all your soybeans at exactly 13%, but that should be your goal. Consider these soybean harvest tips:
When harvesting tough or green stems, make combine adjustments and operate at slower ground speeds. Make combine adjustments several times a day to match conditions as they change. The following combine adjustments are suggested when harvesting higher moisture soybeans or soybeans with green stems:
- To increase “grip” on the green stems to pull them through the combine, replace rounded or worn parts in the thresher, especially worn feeder house chains and rasp bars.
- Increase cylinder/rotor speed to make threshing more aggressive to break open green pods and pull the green material through. Do not close down concave clearance as that reduces room for the green materials to pass through the thresher.
- Insert filler plates or wires in the front portion of the concave to keep the green pods in the cylinder/rotor chamber longer for better threshing. If not, the pods will fall through to the sieves unopened. Consider closing down the top sieve slightly to send the green pods out the back if you are not threshing them properly.
- Increase fan speed as the green stems are heavier and need more airflow to keep them suspended above the sieves to allow for proper cleaning and to blow the green leaves out.
- Close down the lower sieve slightly to keep green pods out of the grain tank and send them back to the cylinder/rotor for rethreshing.
- Install disrupter bars on rotary combines to improve green stem flow through the rotor and to reduce “roping.” On some rotary combines, you can retard the material flow by adjusting the vanes on the rotor cage or by installing reverser rasp bars to keep the material in the rotor longer to allow more time for threshing and separating.
- Consider adding an air reel to the head to have airflow help feed the soybeans into the combine and reduce bunch feeding. More uniform feeding will improve threshing.
Begin harvesting at 14% or 15% moisture. What appears to be wet or green from the road may be dry enough to harvest. Try harvesting when some of the leaves are still on the plant as the beans may be drier than you think. Soybeans are fully mature when 95% of the pods are at their mature tan color. The moisture driven from the wet beans in the bottom of the bin will help rehydrate any dry beans in the top of the bin.
Harvest under optimum conditions. Moisture content can increase by several points with an overnight dew or it can decrease by several points during a day with low humidity and windy conditions. Avoid harvesting when beans are driest, such as on hot afternoons, to maintain moisture and reduce shattering losses. Harvesting immediately after a rain, if field conditions allow, will result in higher moisture contents. However, several wetting and drying cycles from rain events will make the soybeans more susceptible to shatter losses from pods splitting open.
Avoid harvest losses from shattering by harvesting before the beans become overly dry. Four to five beans on the ground per square foot can add up to one bushel per acre loss. Many times, the dock for delivering beans over 13% moisture content may be less the shatter losses from harvesting overly dry soybeans.
If there are green leaves and green pods in the grain, they are considered foreign matter at the marketplace which can result in dockage. If placed in on-farm storage, they can cause challenges in a grain bin at the edges. Avoid dockage and spoilage by doing the following:
- Reset the combine as outlined above to provide a cleaner harvest.
- Use a grain cleaner to remove the foreign matter before marketing or storage.
- Use a grain spreader when putting beans into storage to better distribute any foreign matter.
- In storage, operate the aeration fan to dry the leaves and green pods to a safe storage moisture content. The pods and green beans will dry quickly and help rehydrate any overly dry beans. The fans need to be operated for temperature management anyway.
Don’t place “all of your eggs in one basket” when it comes to selecting the maturity of soybean seed at planting time. Select your varieties and schedule your planting to spread out plant maturity and harvest. Plant your early maturing varieties first.
Good luck and hopefully you'll have a safe harvest and an excellent crop of 13% moisture soybeans.
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