With farmers' crops progressing with every passing day, the UW Extension office has set dates for upcoming corn dry-down events in Luxemburg and Sturgeon Bay.
The events serve as a first look for farmers to see if their corn crop is ready to be harvested for silage, which typically needs to have a moisture content between 60% and 70%, depending on how it will be stored. By comparison, corn harvested for grain usually has a moisture content between 13% and 25%, depending on storage methods.
While marking your calendars for Sept. 9 at Rio Creek Feed Mill in Luxemburg and Sept. 15 at Door County Cooperative is good for planning, farmers have plenty of time before they need to collect samples.
According to the USDA Crop Progress and Condition Report, corn silking is 72% complete, which is on par with the five-year average. Sixteen percent of the corn crop has reached the dough stage, when the milky fluid inside the kernels begins to thicken before the kernels dent and reach maturity.
UW Extension Regional Dairy Educator Aerica Bjurstrom says many of the farmers she meets with say their corn is on the right track thanks to timely rains and, if they were lucky, withstood severe weather events such as high winds and hail.
Soybean blooming is 86% complete, and oat coloring has reached 93%, with both crops still trending ahead of the five-year average, while the winter wheat harvest remains on pace with the average. Farmers across the state had 5.7 days suitable for fieldwork, with parts of eastern Wisconsin, including Door and Kewaunee counties, receiving some relief from the warm, dry conditions.
