The attached article from the Indiana crop report--written by Dr. Bob Nielsen from Purdue--was published last week, but its content is still valid. Basically, the piece focuses on how difficult it is to achieve true drydown of corn in the field at this time of year. Not the best news, but the details are worth noting.--Bryce

Corn Crop Continues Snail’s Pace of Grain Drying & Harvest

October 27, 2009

Monday's report from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA-NASS, 2009) reaffirms that the 2009 Indiana corn crop is continuing its near-record slow pace of development, maturity, and harvest. As of 25 October, 87 percent of the state's corn crop had reached maturity and 21 percent of the crop was reported as having been harvested. These numbers represent progress that is 3 to 4 weeks behind the five-year pace for maturity and harvest.

Throughout much of the growing season, the 2009 crop was tracking similarly to the cool 1992 crop, but has since fallen behind even that very slow crop year. Recent weeks with rainy weather and cool temperatures have simply put the brakes on the drying progress of the grain in standing corn fields around the state. Reported grain moistures at harvest have held steady at 25 percent grain moisture content for the past three weeks. This is in line with those reported in 1992, but much higher than we typically experience in mid- to late October.

Even at this late date, some folks seem to be waiting for a miraculous arrival of "Indian summer" to hasten the in-field drying of corn grain so that they can harvest at moistures of 20 percent or less. Meanwhile, stalk health and grain quality continue to deteriorate due to the processes of weathering and disease.

Recognize that grain moisture content typically decreases very, very slowly from late October onward. By late October, one can usually not expect much more than 1/4 to 1/2 percentage point decrease per day with NORMAL temperatures.

The AVERAGE daily temperature statewide for Indiana in October is 53.6F, then drops to average daily temperatures of only 42.3F during November. These climatic data explain why the rate of grain moisture loss in the field "drops off like a rock" during October and basically "flat lines" through November. Factor in this October's cooler than normal temperatures and it is no surprise why grain moisture has not changed very significantly in recent weeks.

The bottom line is that we should not expect much more significant grain drying in the field from this point forward unless that miraculous "Indian summer" arrives in the very near future.