As of Monday, grain corn harvest in Manitoba is approximately 30% complete. This coming week is looking very positive with regards to the weather, so progress should be impressive in a week's time.
When organizing field order of corn harvest, kernel moisture is the leading factor. However, due to environmental conditions damaging stalks this year, order of harvest may require additional factors. A push-test is an easy method to determine if a field should be harvested before others. At ear-height, or just below the ear, push the corn stalk to a 45 degree angle, and repeat on 50 plants (10 plants at 5 stops in the field). If 10% or more of the stalks have breakage, consider harvesting that field next. Losses due to lodging appear to be significant this year, so following these steps could simply save some yield.
Conditions haven't been ideal for natural grain dry down in the field. Manitoba Agriculture has an article from a while back indicating speed of natural drying in the field, in October and November. It also touches on artificial low temperature versus high temperature drying, estimating drying costs, in-storage cooling and much more. It is a great reference to bookmark for future reference.
The Manitoba Corn Growers Association would like to wish everyone a very safe and happy remainder of harvest for 2018!
Source : Government of Manitoba