By Doug Cooper, Extension Communications
During this week's crop and weather report, ISU Extension climatologist Elwynn Taylor, integrated pest management specialist Rich Pope, and corn agronomist Roger Elmore discuss how the hard freeze coupled with delayed harvest is raising concerns about crop quality.
Taylor comments on the Oct. 9 crop production report released by USDA predicting 188 bushels of corn per acre, which is based on the weight of the ears and ear count per acre. He says the report assumes normal weather from mid September to harvest time, but we haven't had normal weather.
Elmore has received early harvest reports that are very positive, with a few reports of lighter test weights and lower yields. He feels the USDA prediction of 188 bushels per acre sounds very optimistic.
Field agronomists haven't seen much field work over the weekend, according to Pope. They report 35 percent of corn and 5 percent of soybeans harvested, with frequent comments about stalk rots.
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