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Eastern Iowa | That wind sure can make a mess of things. We had the same things happen to us two years ago. A wind came through on Dads birthday (Aug 3rd) and put almost all of our corn flat on the ground. That year we bought cone augers for the two outside snouts and that was a HUGE help. Without those, the corn head would have been more like a dozer blade. We didn't have yield monitors then so we were never sure just how much of a yield hit we took. We did do a couple of things that really helped us out. As I mentioned before, the cone augers on the two outside snouts pulled in the outside rows which would have otherwise plugged instantly and/or pulled the outside rows out by the root. The next thing we did was combine ONLY in the direction that picked the corn up off the ground the best. We tried going back and forth across the field but were just leaving way too much corn on the ground. We also ran the machines slow, sometimes not more than a mile an hour. Yields were poor that year but part of the problem was that the side of the ear that was facing the ground didn't seem to have many kernels on it. We were however supprised at just how much corn we were able to salvage. We didn't seem to leave all taht much out there. Where it was real bad, Dad would stay out of running the red machine to avoid rocks. We used the green machine where we had rocks and had to run the head low. It will take a lot of time and a whole lot more fuel to get through that stuff. Just remember to be safe out there and when/if the head is plugging up, take all necessary precautions so as to prevent any accidents. It can get frustrating and then a guy gets in a hurry and thats when accidents happen. Be careful and patient so that your around to farm another year. Very best of luck to you! | |
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Down corn from August 1st windstorm
