Weather frustration continues as harvest nears

A wet end to the growing season has created some potential concerns for area crop producers.
Angie Rieck-Hinz, Iowa State University Extension field agronomist who serves Franklin County, said standing water after torrential and consistent rains could create stalk quality issues in corn. She advised farmers to go into fields and conduct a sample study to see if there’s a high number of plants with stalk issues.
“Our advice would be to check 100 plants in a field and if we’re somewhere between 10 to 15 percent of those with stalk quality issues, you’d prioritize that field for harvest because those would be prone to lodging,” she said.
She added that the wet, humid conditions have also made corn plants susceptible to ear mold, which can be hazardous for animal and human consumption.
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