Across central Michigan, soybean harvest is largely complete just past the mid-point of October, and corn harvest might be at the midway point of completed. In the newest Channel Seed harvest update, field sales representative Josh Eurich says corn harvest pace depends on where the fields are located.
“Corn has progressed very quickly on the eastern side of my geography and then in the central and south-central part of my world it’s really just getting started,” he explained.
Soybean yields were varied throughout harvest and the average for his part of Michigan may come in right in the middle of the highs and lows.
“On the soybean side, I would say it again is a pretty wide swing with 30-bushel all the way up to upper 70’s and maybe even just touching 80 in certain pockets. If I were to pick a number that I think is going to cover my entire geography, it’s going to settle in there right at 50 bushels which would be a little less than what we would hope and anticipate, but given the conditions that this crop went through, I think there’s a lot of people that are and were pleasantly surprised just knowing what type of environment they came through.”
Corn yield is quite variable and attributable to growing season rainfall.
“On the corn side it is extremely variable, and it was dictated almost completely by the amount of rainfall or lack of rainfall that those fields received during the growing season,” Erich explained. “The high end I’ve heard 280 and low end I’ve heard 80, so a wide swing, and that really depends on again the soil structure you know what type of soil it was and then how much rain that they received.”
And a major concern now is whether the remaining corn to be shelled will stay standing.
“So, my recommendation is for our farmers and folks that are helping those farmers is to get out and scout those fields and certainly prioritize harvest according to what that crop is dictating, because there are certainly concerns from all of the cannibalization of the stalk going through this drought that it’s not going to be there at the end. So, it’s something that we really do have to pay attention to.”
Hear all of Eurich’s comments in the full MAT and Channel Seed harvest update:
