Published October 8, 2010 | By admin
Right at high noon we made the last turn with the combine and finished the last corn plot for the 2010 season. The weather has never been this nice in the years we have grown crops for the Orthman Manufacturing, Inc facility. Last year we experienced -20 degrees F. and felt cold seep into our bones.
Preliminary soybean results are 46 bpa at the low and 79bpa for the high. Average was in the upper 60 bpa range on the Orthman Farm. Corn yield we are now calculating as we write this.
The 2010 year was not kind to most growers due to the extra rainy and wet soil conditions long into the season. With over 15 inches falling in a 40 day period early this summer the corn needed snorkel tubes and a Geiger counter to find where the N leached to. Roots had a struggle as we have reported before, the access to N was late because of its deep movement during the rains. So when the roots reached into the “N pool” we saw a lot of yellow corn and stunting effect. We are seeing it in the ear size and yield. The corn at the Orthman Farm is heavy 59 to 62lbs per bushel and 12.2 to 14% moisture. We are pleased with kernel condition and weight, yes we realize that the bushel per acre farm yield is shy of last year by 27.5%. Poor little ole plants were wet and cold for so long, no wonder we are down. This is prevalent all across the Corn Belt.
We will get everyone that monitors our web site a report of the results as soon as possible on this webpage. Thanks for keeping tract.
Photo courtesy of Mike P.