1. Programming Notes

Corn silage harvest is in full swing and the majority of our region's acreage should be finished with harvest within 7-10 days, so this will be the last regular Central NY Field Crop Update of the year.

But as you continue to harvest your fields, please keep an eye out for some of our recent invasives like tall waterhemp, palmer amaranth, and tar spot of corn.  Please get in touch with Erik Smith if you think you have any of these. I'm seeing the effects of corn rootworm in corn and white mold in soybeans across our region, so rotate, rotate, rotate, and protect next year's crops with resistant varieties and the control methods that you have at your disposal.

Save the dates:
1. CNY Dairy Day will be in two locations again this year:
a. Wed, Jan 8th (White Eagle Conference Center, Hamilton, NY)
b. Thurs, Jan 9th (CCE Saratoga, Ballston Spa, NY)

2. CNY Corn Day will also be in two locations this year, likely at the same locations as Dairy Day:
a. Tues, Jan 14th
b. Wed, Jan 15th

BUT stay tuned to our team's emails as we finalize these details and open registration.

And stay safe the rest of this harvest season!

2. Growing Degree Days (GDD) (See: Climate Smart Farming Growing Degree Day Calculator)

The silking dates in section 2 begin July 14th, when I first saw tasseling in the region - so this does not mean that every crop in that particular area tasseled on that earliest date. Your crop may have tasseled on or more closely to one of the later dates. So:

While our GDD tables in section 2 can get you in the ballpark, check your own whole-plant DM to make sure you're ready, and not ahead/behind schedule!

Growing degree days (GDD) are calculated by taking the average daily temperature and subtracting the base temperature for development of a given organism ((High + Low)/2 - base temp = GDD). For corn silage, we are using base 50/86, as corn development starts at 50 degrees F and ceases above 86. Check your location and planting date.

Remember: Silage corn needs 750-800 GDD (depending on hybrid maturity) after silking to reach a whole plant DM of 32%. Under typical late season dry down conditions we can expect the crop to reach 35% DM four to seven days later. We can expect to accumulate 15-25 GDD per day, or even up to 30, so peak maturity can creep up on us quickly. But no matter what the numbers say, always check your crop to see how close you may be to harvest. For more details, see this article.

BLUE: Time to make plans (35% DM anywhere between 5 - 11 days from now, depending on maturity)
GREEN: Gas up the harvester and the trucks (35% DM in 2 - 8 days, depending on maturity)
YELLOW: See you in the field (35% DM in less than a week)
RED: It's either already in the bunk or it's going for high-moisture corn or it's going in the bin for grain (DM likely closer to 40% or higher)