Combines, grain wagons and semis bursting with corn are a common sight now in northeast Nebraska.
I was lucky to hook a ride on a new green combine just outside Emerson, Nebraska with Ron Fuchser Thursday. The monitor was regularly reporting yields well above 200 bushels per acre on the dryland crop, and moisture is now around 22 percent. With his uncle and dad providing support, he was making good progress, but he said he doesn't expect to be finished with corn harvest for another month.
Fuchserwas putting this corn into storage on the farm. His uncle, driving the wagon, said he's concerned about the high moisture levels. "There could be a lot of spoiled corn" if producers aren't careful, he said.
In town, Emerson Grain owner Breck Giese told me he's only accepting corn at 18 percent moisture or less, although as it cools he'll be able to raise that limit a little. A problem for Giese and other local elevators is that some of end users he sells to are clogged, and that slows everything down.
Giese said he's hearing lots of reports of 200 bu plus yields. Test weights on some of the corn have been below 54 pounds, and there are discounts below that -- a penny per pound down to 52, and 2 cents below that at one location he sells into.
For producers like Fuchser who anticipate harvesting into December, National Crop Insurance Services issued another reminder about the importance of contacting crop insurance agents as soon as possible, since Dec. 10 is the official "End of the Insurance Period." Here's some of their advice:
"Submit a notice of loss with your agent if you have not already done so and request additional time to harvest in order to protect your crop insurance coverage.
"Continue to carry out normal and customary harvesting practices, if possible, utilizing available windows of opportunity.
"Yield-based policies provide coverage for loss of quality (review crop provisions for specifics), reduced yields and revenue losses (if chosen).
"If, for example, you are unable to harvest by the EOIP due to extreme wet or snowy conditions, your crop insurance company may allow additional time to harvest, if: You give timely notice of loss to your agent; and, it is determined and documented by the insurance company that the delay was due to an insured cause of loss; and, you demonstrate that harvest was not possible due to an insured cause of loss; and, the delay was not due to an uninsured cause of loss or because you did not have sufficient equipment or manpower to harvest."
