With rain drenching the state, Michigan harvest has come to an abrupt pause. With this rain, grain quality might come into question.
So far, Jacob Hecht, plant manager of Star of the West Milling in Richville, says that there is a risk of seeing some issues this year.
“We’re a little bit concerned about ear molds in corn,” he says. “We did see more western bean cutworm in our area than we probably ever have, and it looks like it’s created some spots [for there] to be some spots to be ear mold on the corn. The last time we had a major ear mold situation, we were in a lot different environment than what we are now, but we do have plenty of moisture so fingers crossed we don’t see any issues with that.”
The second biggest contributor that will impact grain quality is insect damage. Trevor Kraus, BASF agronomist, says it happens to all crops.
“A lot of insect pests damage the corn husk or the soybean pod, which leads to various infections such as ear molds in corn or purple seed stain in soybeans—things like that are going to impact quality,” he says.
Not all farmers will be selling their corn and soybeans off the combine this fall, and neither did wheat growers this summer. Hecht says preserving quality also depends on when the crop comes out.
“There’s only so much Mother Nature allows us to do, but it’s really about being on the ball and harvesting as timely as you can because our control measures outside of that are pretty well beyond those points,” says Hecht.
Kraus says that when it comes to corn, growers will want to reduce their drying costs and leave the crop dry in the field as long as possible, but that may not be the best strategy.
“There’s been some good research to show that you actually start losing yield—there’s respiration that’s going on when corn’s north of 15 percent moisture,” he says. “The quality aspect can also deteriorate the longer we leave corn out. In most instances, it’s better to harvest the corn crop a little wet, pay a little extra in drying, and that’s going to give you higher quality grain at the end of the season.”
