Soybean Harvest in Wisconsin is at a Crawl

Wisconsin growers are struggling to get their soybean crop harvested and we are no exception. As of today the WSRP (WI Soybean Research Program) have only harvested 18% of all of our plots and projected weather outlooks show no real extended harvest window in sight. One of our combine crews just called from Chippewa Falls, WI minutes ago. We opened up the field and were treated with soybean moisture’s in the low to mid 20’s. Nothing left for us to do but shut it down for the day and hope for some drying weather. As we continue to struggle through harvest soybean seed quality, drying, and storage issues will continue to arise. Below are a few sources of information that may prove useful as harvest pushes forward.

• Soybean seed quality: Be aware of the differences between sclerotinia, phomopsis, and purple seed stain. Please see Common Soybean Diseases in Wisconsin, Soybean Quality Issues in 2009, and Discolored Soybean Seed.
• Soybean Grain Drying, Conditioning and Aeration: Drying Soybeans in 2009, Harvesting, Drying and Storing Frost-Damaged Corn and Soybeans and, Drying Soybeans Requires Special Considerations
• More info on grain quality please see Chat n chew cafe and grain harvest.

Note of Interest: John Gaska called from the field after the initial post and indicated that all of the pods he inspected remain tightly sealed and no germination was occuring. Grain quality at the Arlington location still looked good to excellent.