Do not be shocked if you start seeing farmers harvest corn for silage in the coming days. According to the USDA Crop Progress and Condition Report, the corn silage harvest is about 5% complete, about 2 percentage points ahead of average. The western part of the state is responsible for most of that, but 1% of the crop in northeast Wisconsin has been harvested.

Farmers in Door and Kewaunee counties will get a better idea of whether their corn is ready for harvest beginning next week when UW Extension holds corn dry-down events Sept. 9 at Rio Creek Feed Mill in Luxemburg and Sept. 15 at Door County Cooperative. Corn 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.

The dry weather has been good for fieldwork, with six days suitable for activities such as harvesting potatoes and oats, cutting alfalfa hay or starting fall tillage. It has not been great for the corn and soybeans still developing in the fields. Both crops saw their condition ratings slip 2 to 3 percentage points in the last week and 9 to 10 percentage points over a longer period. Even with some rain in the forecast, Weatherology meteorologist Laura Lockwood says only time will tell if it makes much of a difference.

Earlier this month, Deer Run Dairy owner Duane Ducat said harvesting underdeveloped corn reduces the nutritional value of what farmers feed their cows. According to the University of Wisconsin Agronomy Department, the corn silage harvest typically starts around Sept. 10, with the most active period running from Sept. 20 through Oct. 15 and harvest wrapping up by Nov. 1.