As corn has quickly reached maturity, the next hurdle of the 2021 growing season is harvest. Stalk quality will be a concern for fields across that state that experienced the stress of too much or not enough moisture. Alison Robertson recently wrote an article about stalk rots that is very good.
Corn and soybean harvest has started across many parts of Iowa. Some areas of the state have swung between warm-dry and cool- wet weather within the last few days. With more rain in the forecast, a few producers may be wondering about how fast corn will dry down in the field in the coming weeks. Last fall we wrote an ICM News article highlighting the factors associated with corn grain dry down.
Soybean are nearing maturity across Iowa with minimal delay due to cool temperatures compared to 2016. However, soybean sensitivity to day length speeds up crop development towards physiological maturity. During senescence carbohydrates are converted into oils. Soybean seed moisture changes very little, remaining near 60 percent during the de-greening period. As the pods turn to mature color at the beginning of maturity stage (R7), seed dry matter accumulation is complete and seed moisture rapidly decreases.
