Stalk lodging and down corn can complicate harvest and lead to yield loss and storage issues. Effective harvest management can help minimize yield and storage losses in lodged and down corn.
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As corn nears maturity, stalk integrity can be reduced. Stalk strength is naturally reduced by cannibalization, which occurs when nutrients are moved from the stalk to kernels during grain fill. Additionally, stalk rots and secondary pathogens can diminish stalk quality. High winds can cause corn with weakened stalks to lodge, especially in fields where significant cannibalization and stalk rot infection has occurred.
Fields with considerable lodging can be a challenge to harvest efficiently. Harvest loss is unavoidable even in standing corn. Losses of 1% can occur at the corn head even with the most experienced operators.1 Most harvest loss in lodged corn occurs because the ears on down corn are not picked up by the corn head and do not make it into the combine. Harvest losses in down corn may be 10 to 15% even when care is taken during harvesting. For each ¾-lb ear left in an area equal to 1/100 of an acre there would be an approximate loss of one bushel/acre. An example of 1/100 of an acre would be equivalent to an operator using an eight-row, 30-inch corn head (20 ft wide) by 21 feet 9 inches long (435.6 sq ft).2 Lodged corn is also at greater risk of poor drydown and will be more likely to have molds or kernel sprouting if ears are in contact with the soil. The combination of variable grain moisture, possible kernel molds, and kernel sprouting can increase the challenges of successfully storing the grain.
Start by inspecting fields to identify where corn is down and where it is standing. Check fields for stalk strength using the grab test. Grab the corn stalks at shoulder height, pull or push about 18 inches off center and release. If the corn stalks remain upright, stalk strength is good. If not, stalk strength is weaker. Also determine the grain moisture in the fields. Knowing the percent of corn that is down or lodged as well as the grain moisture can help determine harvest order. Take into consideration that upright corn, depending on stalk strength, is also at risk of lodging. Fields with a high percentage of lodged corn can take three to four times longer to harvest than fields with stalks that are standing well. Therefore, it can be challenging to decide when to harvest the downed corn and the standing corn.
Fields with considerable lodging can reduce harvest efficiency. Harvesting as many of the down ears as possible requires slower speeds and patience.
There are several management tips to help increase the number of ears harvested by the combine:2,3
Harvesting down corn will not be business as usual as it requires much more time and patience than normal corn harvesting operations. Plugging of the corn head is more likely to occur in down corn than standing corn, so keep safety in mind when needing to stop the combine to un-plug the header. Be sure to disengage the corn head before attempting to clear out a plugged row(s).
1 McNeill, S., Montross, M. and Stombaugh, T. A comprehensive guide to corn management in Kentucky, Chapter 11. Corn harvesting, drying and storage. University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/id/id139/id139.pdf
2 Hanna, M. Harvesting lodged corn. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/encyclopedia/harvesting-lodged-corn
3 Thomison, P. . Tips for harvesting lodged corn. The Ohio State University Extension. https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/-33/tips-harvesting-lodged-corn
Web sources verified 10/9/. _
The high-powered windstorm that made its way across the Midwest on Aug. 10, , damaged upwards of 37 million cropping acres across several states, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin, according to the USDA.
Images of fields with corn that’s been totally flattened started circulating soon after the storm, illustrating the power of the winds that reached more than 100 miles per hour at times in some locations.
Dealing with the aftermath of a big storm is part-and-parcel of farming, of course, and farmers are often able to manage their crops after a storm with existing equipment by making a few special adjustments. But for those times when the standard setups won’t do, a new solution may be the only option.
Mike Starkey of Brownsburg, Ind., had one of those experiences in when a storm blew through his area and knocked over his corn. He needed to get it off the ground as soon as possible, but when he tried to harvest it with his John Deere corn head he couldn’t get the header’s snouts under the corn.
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“I tried, but I bent a snout and knew this wasn’t going to work,” he says.
So he traded in his Deere corn head for a Drago corn head and says it worked great.
“It has sensors that keep the snouts about 2 inches above the ground,” he says. “Also, the snouts are at a better angle — they’re more parallel to the ground.”
Starkey says with the Drago head, he was able to salvage most of his crop. “My county agent had been out to see the field before I got the Drago and then he came out after and he couldn’t believe what a great job it did.”
Starkey considers himself fortunate that the “Derecho” missed him, but he’s now prepared for the next time he finds himself in the eye of the storm.
Alpha, Ill., no-tiller Marion Calmer, owner of Calmer Corn Heads, says his farm was not affected by this year’s storm either, aside from being without power for a while.
“But the next morning, the Calmer Corn Heads lines went wild,” he says. “We had a lot of people calling up, asking what they should do and looking to buy reels and whatnot.”
For farmers who can get by without a new corn head, here are 5 combine adjustment and harvesting tips Calmer recommends trying after a big storm.
1) Adjust the corn head angle. With downed corn that is lodged in a direction other than “with the row,” you need a flatter angle. Calmer suggests a 23-25-degree angle for standing corn and 20-22 degrees for downed corn. To change the angle, push the bottom out or pull the top beam of the corn head toward the combine. Park the combine on a level surface and lower the header until the lowest point of the row unit is 2 inches above the ground. Place a protractor on the stripper plate and read the angle. Adjust as necessary.
For corn lodged “with the row,” a steeper angle allows the gathering chain lugs to get closer to the ground for retrieving stalks lying parallel to the row units.
2) Synchronize gathering chain speed to ground speed. The gathering chain lugs should move toward the header at the same speed as the corn stalks. This will help prevent the gathering chains from breaking more stalks or pulling root balls out of the ground and into the combine.
For speeds of 2 mph, the gathering chains should revolve at approximately 30 RPMs. For 3 mph, they should be set at approximately 45 RPMs.
To count the RPMs, mark a lug with orange or yellow paint. This will give you a visual reference as you count the chain revolutions.
To adjust the gathering chain, install Calmer’s 6-tooth gathering-chain drive sprockets for John Deere 40-90 series corn heads or 7-tooth gathering-chain drive sprockets on New Holland and Case IH heads. This slows only the gathering chains but keeps the stalk rolls running at full speed.
3) Adjust the cross auger and stripper plates. Raise the cross auger, setting the clearance between the tray and the auger flighting at 2 inches for downed corn, as opposed to 1.75 inches for standing corn. This allows the dislodged material floating above the poly-deck covers to be sucked under the auger and transported to the feeder house
Opening the stripper plates reduces the energy required to move dislodged material through the row unit. Set it to 1.5 inches for 200-bushel downed corn, as opposed to 1.25 inches for 200-bushel standing corn. Keep the front setting ¼ inch tighter than the rear setting near the gearbox.
4) Add, remove or alter. You’ll probably find it helpful to make a few adjustments to the combine attachments:
Contact us to discuss your requirements of corn head for down corn. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.