With each of these red flag days, am grateful for our firefighters, first responders, and all involved helping fight fires; praying for all of them and those who are impacted. Sharing this week on some upcoming November programs and a grain question I received when it was cold last week.

Should low moisture corn be cooled in bins? Will running air remove much more moisture? Dr. Ken Hellevang with NDSU answered the following question. “The temperature of the corn will change many times faster than any moisture content change. We can estimate the cooling time by dividing 150 by the airflow rate. So, if the airflow rate is 1.0 cfm/bu, it will only take about 15 hours to cool the corn. To change the moisture content of all the corn at that airflow rate will take about 40 days. Even at a typical aeration airflow rate of about 0.2 cfm/bu it only takes about 3 days to cool the corn.

Anytime we cool the corn, there will be a minor (fraction of a percent) reduction in moisture. Therefore, with dry corn running the fan at night during higher humidity conditions is beneficial. I would run the fan all day and night for the most rapid cooling and just at night if willing to be controlling the fans.

I encourage farmers to cool the corn whenever outside temperatures are 10-15 degrees cooler than the corn, so they certainly could utilize the cooler air to cool the corn.

With the corn at moisture contents of 13% or less, it will store at the warmer temperatures for a while, so there is not a problem with waiting. They will need to cool the corn for winter storage at some time to limit the potential for moisture migration and wet corn at the top of the bin. This occurs if there is consistently at least a 20 degree difference between outdoor air temperature and the corn temperature.”

2022 Nebraska Ballot Initiatives are explained by Dr. Dave Aiken in this document https://agecon.unl.edu/2022-nebraska-ballot-issues and webinar https://go.unl.edu/n2pw.

Cover Crop Grazing Conference will be held November 1^st at the Nebraska Research and Extension Center near Mead (1071 Co. Rd. G). This conference is designed for crop and livestock producers with a trade show, speakers, producer panel, and cover crop field demonstrations. The day begins at 9 a.m. with registration and a trade show with the program running from 10 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Speakers include Ben Beckman (Rotational/Strip Grazing) and Brad Schick (Grazing of Perennial and Annual Forages). There is a $10 registration fee payable via cash or check at the conference to cover lunch and refreshments. RSVP at: https://enrec.unl.edu/covercropgrazingconference/. If interested in exhibiting in the trade show, please contact Connor Biehler at cbiehler2@unl.edu or 402-624-8007.

Nebraska Extension Weed Science School will be held Nov. 9 at the Eastern NE Research and Extension Center near Mead (1071 Co. Rd G). Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. with program from 8:45-2:30 p.m. CCA credits are available. Speakers and topics include: Amit Jhala (Nebraska Weed Management Survey Results); Kevin Bradley with University of Missouri (Future of Weed Management in 2023 and Beyond); Jenny Rees (Herbicide options when interseeding cover crops into corn and soybeans); Nahar Neta with Greeneye Technology (Spot herbicide application technology for weed management in corn and soybean); Bob Klein (Spray quality and carrier rate-how they affect herbicide efficacy and spray drift?); Stevan Knezevic (Soybean response to 2,4-D and dicamba); Sam Wortman (Off target injury of dicamba or 2,4-D in specialty crops). No fee but please RSVP for lunch: go.unl.edu/weedscienceschool.

Central NE Regenerative Ag Conference will be held Nov. 18 at the Tassel Performing Arts Center in Holdrege, NE from 1-4:30 p.m. with Gabe Brown as the featured speaker. Fee is $15 if pre-register by Nov. 14; otherwise the fee is $25. Registration is through Central Community College in Holdrege. Register online or you can call them at 308-995-8133. Just FYI, it gave me a confirmation email saying I registered for “Entrepreneurship”, but the day and time were correct. More information at: https://greencover.com/event/soil-health-and-regenerative-agriculture-conference/.