A successful harvest depends not only on crop conditions but also on properly functioning equipment. While you can’t eliminate all harvest losses, you can identify the source and adjust harvest equipment for optimum performance.

Grain corn ear molds can lead to yield loss at harvest. If mycotoxins are present, grain may be toxic to animals and ultimately unusable. It’s important to understand environmental conditions that lead to diseases and how those diseases affect grain.

An important part of corn silage production is proper and timely harvest management. Follow these guidelines when harvesting Mycogen^® brand Silage-Specific™ hybrids to be rewarded with corn silage that can help add profit to the bottom line.

Dry summers and relentless pests increase your corn crop’s susceptibility to aflatoxins, which are harmful to livestock. Reduce your exposure with effective management.

Early frost at harvest can lead to high or uneven moisture, low test weights and increased foreign material. Careful planning and management of drying and storage can help maintain yield.

Many factors contribute to how early frost in the fall will affect corn harvest and the expenses associated with drying and storage. Damage severity will depend on the stage of the crop, the duration of freezing temperatures and subsequent plant damage.

Heavy wind and rain late in the growing season can dramatically affect corn. Flooding, downed plants and disease are just a few of the potential management challenges related to extreme weather. Consider your options for recovering as much value as possible and take precautions when storing and feeding damaged corn.

Severe drought can cause unsafe levels of nitrates to form in corn plants, especially in the lower stalks. Although precautions during silage harvest can reduce nitrate levels, dairy producers should be cautious when feeding drought-stressed corn silage.

Summer drought noticeably limits corn silage production by reducing ear size and stalk growth. As few as four consecutive days of visible wilting during vegetative growth can reduce grain or forage yield by as much as 5 to 10 percent. Yield losses of 40 to 50 percent are possible if high temperatures and limited rainfall coincide with silking and reproductive stages.