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By Charles Hurburgh, Department Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
The current cold weather provides some relief from the wet grain issues that have plagued farmers in 2008. There is considerable corn in storage over 18 percent moisture, with some over 20 percent. And there is still wet corn in the field that likely will not dry any more.
Steve Barnhart, Department of Agronomy
Rain in May and early June this year put most alfalfa producers behind two to three weeks for their first, and correspondingly their second, third, and sometimes forth cuttings. Now in mid-November, producers can look back on the season, determine if there are still some management decisions to make and guess about winter survival.
By Charles Hurburgh, Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
As we observed a few weeks ago, the 2008 corn crop is wetter and lower in test weight than average corn. Long, cool growing seasons produce high yields but the corn is wet and soft, with more soft white starch. This means lower test weight, and reduced storability as mold can invade the softer textured kernels more rapidly. It also takes more energy to remove water from softer corn.
