By Brent A. Larson
The last two years have been a challenge, and, frankly, we’re crossing our fingers that 2020 will be a smoother-going spring.
As we wrapped up last year, the harvest was really variable. Corn planted in April was consistently above 200 bushels/acre. But yields on corn planted in May and June got lower as the planting dates got later.
Bean yields were consistently average with some lower yields on really wet fields, and some higher yields on the really well-drained acres.
Corn was a challenge to get dry. It just didn’t really want to get much below 18% to 19% moisture. Beans were also hard to get much drier than 13% moisture…lots of beans harvested this year at 13 – 15%…and higher.
So what can we learn from the 2019 crop season? The highest yields were in areas where drainage was good and getting in the field early got us top yields. Those fields we planted late because of wet conditions just didn’t have the opportunity to perform to their optimal ability.
As we’re considering our best bets for our own acres this spring, we’re also thinking about how we can improve your yields. There’s a lot to talk about! Give us a call today at (515) 576-3671!
