1. Announcements

Thank you to Matt Peachey, Andrew Murray, Gabe Carpenter, and the Fort Plain Keystone Mills staff for facilitating and hosting our Corn Silage Dry Down event today! We saw a few samples around 35% dry matter, most were around 30-32%, and we did have several in the low-mid 20s. So silage harvest season is definitely here, though some of us have another couple of weeks to go. Gabriel reminded us today that harvesting silage too early can leave you short of feed next year, requiring you to make up the difference in grain purchases, so please have patience (as much as it's possible, of course)! Thank you to all of the producers who came out to have their samples tested - it was great seeing you all. See section 3 for corn silage harvest forecasts - the numbers reported today reflect degree-day data from two days ago, so bear in mind that another 40-50 degree days could accumulate by the end of today, and that DM% raises about 0.5% each day. Now that folks have had a chance to make hay this week, I expect to see quite a few silage trucks rolling down the road next week.

One more reminder that if you have a few minutes to help us by filling out the survey by clicking here, we would appreciate it. It's designed to help understand your views and experiences on farming, the environment, the role of government and usage of pesticide products. The survey should take about 15-20 minutes to complete, but will help Cornell further its mission of meeting farmers where they are and serving their needs.

2. Pests and Disease

Fall armyworm numbers dropped in Saratoga Co, indicating that larvae are likely hatching now - so even though the numbers in the trap were definitely not huge last week, we might expect to start seeing damage very soon if there are higher populations in certain locations.

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

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.

The silking dates in section 2 begin July 17th, when I first saw tasseling in the region - so this does not mean that every crop in your 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!

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, click here to see this article.

Time to make plans (35% DM anywhere between 5 - 11 days from now, depending on maturity)

Gas up the harvester and the trucks (35% DM in 2 - 8 days, depending on maturity)

See you in the field (35% DM imminently):

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 > 35-40%)

See you in the field!