Sept. 17, 2014

Grain quality from the 2014 harvest is generally expected to be high, although challenges may lie ahead in the need to store much of this harvest for an extended time, perhaps as much as two years. In an article published in this week's Iowa State University Integrated Crop Management News, Charles Hurburgh discusses management actions to ensure stored grain quality, recommended grain moisture levels for drying and storage, and other factors to consider. (Full article)

Hurburgh, ISU Professor in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and Professor in Charge, Iowa Grain Quality Initiative, discusses the 2014 corn and soybean crops and lists key management actions for growers. He also  links to online 20-minute training modules on 1) aeration and dry grain storage; 2) fan performance; and 3) dryeration.

Hurburgh notes: "Carryover of the 2013 crop will create complexities because of its poor storage. Do not mix crops from multiple years in bins and recognize that considerable quantity of 2014 corn will be stored for at least two years."

Read Hurburgh's article, Quality and Handling of the 2014 Iowa Crop, at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/CropNews/2014/0924Hurburgh.htm

Nebraska Notes

The author notes harvest numbers for Iowa; comparable Nebraska stats follow.

Corn. Nebraska's 2014 corn crop is forecast at 1.57 billion bushels (Sept. 1 report). Corn stocks totaled 444 million bushels as of June 30; 190 million bushels were on farm (June 30 report)

Soybeans. Nebraska's soybean harvest is forecast at 284 million bushels. (Sept. 1 report). Soybean stocks totaled 36.9 million bushels, of which 3.9 million bushels were on farm (June 30 report)

The next USDA grain stock report is expected to be released Sept. 30.