Field Crop Update, September 30, 2022
Erik Smith, Area Field Crop Specialist
Central New York Dairy and Field Crops
The cold weather is here, but silage is still underway for many of us around the region. The weather over the next 10 days should allow the last acres of silage to dry down quickly. Because silage harvest is wrapping up very soon, the Growing Degree Day unit totals in section 2 show GDD totals since planting date only.
And because the GDD accumulations won't really budge very much from this point on, this will be the last regular update of the season. But as always, I'll be sure to reach out when timely information crosses my desk.
Happy and safe harvesting!
1. Reminders from last week:
Check out last week's Update for info on:
a. Cover crops (there's still time!)
b. Hay harvest considerations
c. Free soybean cyst nematode screening
d. The effect of rain on corn silage dry-down
e. To assess the effectiveness of this year's nutrient plan, see this factsheet and this factsheet on the Corn Stalk Nitrate Test.
2. Growing Degree Days as of 28 Sept: 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, planting date, and silking date. 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 (Remember that we can expect to accumulate 20-25 GDD per day, or even up to 30, so this is not a large window). For more details, see this article. No matter what the numbers say, always check your crop to see how close you may be to harvest:
Field Crop Update, September 30, 2022 (pdf; 261KB)
Upcoming Events
New York State Fiber Conference
June 9, 2024
Bouckville, NY
Theme for this year: Quality Matters
Announcements
Cash Rent and Custom Harvest Survey
To date, there is limited information available about rental rates and fees for crop harvesting. Farms can use this valuable information for their farm business planning to help improve decision making and profitability.Farmers Can Join MeatSuite For Free!
MeatSuite.com is a free resource provided by Cornell University where NY meat farmers can create a farm profile and list their bulk (wholes, halves, quarters) and bundled (i.e. Grilling Bundle) meat products.Why should farmers join?
1. It's free and easy!
2. Connect with more local customers. In the past year the MeatSuite.com farm directory had 8,300 visits from New York consumers. Farm profiles get as many as 25 views per month from potential local customers. We also spotlight MeatSuite farms on social media and bring attention and purchases to farms through highlights and giveaways.
How do I join?
Farmers can visit https://www.meatsuite.com/farmers/ to create a free farm profile. You must list at least one product for your farm's profile to go live. You'll also have access to Cornell's free Meat Price Calculator, a helpful tool for pricing your meat to make a profit.
While you're on MeatSuite, check out the "Creating Consumer-Friendly Bulk Meats" publication on the log-in page. It has tips on how to create bulk meat products that are easier for first-time buyers to say "yes" to.
If you have any questions as you create your farm profile or products, we're here to help! Please email Matt LeRoux at mnl28@cornell.edu.