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USDA says harvest in Michigan is really yet to begin, with corn harvested less than 1 percent and soybeans at 1 percent, as of Sunday. In the first Channel Seed harvest update of the season, Christian Pellatz confirms there is minimal activity in his Southwest Michigan territory.
“From what I’ve been seeing out in the field so far, there’s some soybeans coming off here and there,” he said. “Obviously we’ve been getting some late rains here recently, so creating some wet conditions, and we’ll probably see more in a few days get rolling again. Seed corn and the silage harvest have been well underway for a few weeks now. As far as corn fields go, I haven’t really seen much, maybe one or two coming off here.”
Pellatz is a Field Sales Representative with Channel. Yield feedback is as limited as harvest itself, but it could be a disappointing year due to prolonged dryness.
“All I’ve heard really from a yield perspective is on dry land ground, maybe a little bit down from last year, on irrigated, pretty consistent. We’ve seen some good conditions there with the heat that we’ve had, but it’s been scattered conditions. A lot of dry areas throughout the state, some areas receiving good moisture, but I’ve heard more of those areas not receiving the best moisture, maybe a couple inches all summer, so we’re seeing some pretty droughty conditions and I think we’re going to definitely be down on yield from what I’ve seen so far.”
Friday begins a long harvest window according to MAT Chief Meteorologist Ryan Martin, and Pellatz says operations will ramp up quickly. Many soybean fields will be ready for harvest.
“They kind of took a little bit to dry down there, especially with the cooler temperatures we had there for a few weeks, but then we got back into some heat and they started to really dry down with the rains kind of knocking the leaves off. They’re really starting to turn now. Into corn, I’d say it’s really starting to turn as well. I’ve seen some still seeing a small milk layer, but for the most part we’re really starting to see a lot of black layer coming in, in that low 30’s to high 20’s moisture from what I’ve seen out there, so it’s really starting to turn.”
Hear more in the full MAT and Channel Seed harvest update:
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