The 2020 corn crop has been under severe stress this growing season due to local drought conditions. Don’t risk losing yield this fall by delaying harvest. Timely harvest helps insures that you maximize your yield and the economics of drying are relatively cheap at an equivalent of 1/100 of a bushel of corn per 1 point of drying.

Along with drying being part of the harvest timing decision, other factors such as harvest yield loss need to be taken into consideration too. Harvest yield loss can come from a few issues such as lodged corn, dropped ears, header shatter, combine cylinder loss, and combine separation loss. Late season stress can cause cannibalization of stalks and ear shanks which will make them susceptible to standability issues. Scout fields to check for pre harvest issues – if issues exists, schedule those fields for early harvest. Every bushel harvested and not on the ground will add to your profit per acre. Check for kernel and ear loss after harvesting a portion of a field. Every full size ear found on the ground in 1/100 acre equates to 1 bu/ac loss while two kernels on the ground per square foot also equals a 1 bu/ac loss. Timely harvest this fall can help increase your yields and improve your farms profitability. 

The FCS Precision Ag team has a solution to help save header shatter by up to 85% with 360 YIELD SAVER®. As corn drops below 20% moisture, header shatter becomes a bigger issue and 360 YIELD SAVER® reduces the loss two ways: first, by reducing butt shelling and second, by capturing kernels. The investment breakeven can be covered with just 1 bu/ac of corn saved from header shatter loss over the life span of the 360 YIELD SAVER®. Interested in learning more? Contact the FCS Precision Ag team for more details!