DuPont Pioneer Harvest Update 11/20/17
While many farmers will be giving thanks this week for a good harvest, others will still be trying to wrap up harvest 2017. Another weekend of heavy rain and storms continued to delay the wrap up of harvest for some growers. Mary Gumz, with DuPont Pioneer, says there is still corn standing in NW Indiana, “For the most part, however, it is holding up well. The good weather we had in August and September really gave us some good stalk strength going into harvest.” She added, where storms and high winds have hit, there has been some damage but, for the most part, the crops that are still in the field are looking good. The rain, freeze, and thaw cycles are, however, taking a toll on soybeans, “We are seeing some shattering losses and so I would encourage producers to focus on getting soybeans harvest before corn.”
Gumz urges producers not to rush into post-harvest fieldwork, as long as conditions remain this wet, “Don’t try and work these fields while they are wet. You will add to soil compaction for next year.” She added, while the wet conditions have delayed the end of harvest and fall fieldwork, they are providing some good soil moisture recharge for parts of NW Indiana which had experienced very dry conditions this summer.