Crop Update: This seems like another strange end to the season with irrigating, harvest, harvesting silage, and harvest finished occurring simultaneously in the area I serve. For those interested in planting wheat, check out Nathan Mueller’s information on winter wheat variety selection on his blog: https://croptechcafe.org/winter-wheat-variety-selection-fall-2023/. Nathan does a great job of comparing varieties over time and sharing details he hears and sees on varieties for eastern Nebraska.

A few have asked about adding moisture to silage that’s too dry. Dr. Bruce Anderson once shared “it takes about 7 gallons of water for each ton of silage to raise moisture content just one point. Even if you have enough water, the chopped corn can’t absorb it fast enough to do any good.” A better option is to add a wetter feed like irrigated corn to help with the moisture content. Bruce shares more considerations here: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/2017/making-silage-dry-corn.

Check moisture content on non-irrigated corn and soybeans and harvest accordingly. Have heard reports from some non-irrigated fields from Nuckolls Co. to Seward Co. going as low as 13.6% to 17% for corn last week. A lot of non-irrigated beans in the area I serve have no pod fill in the upper ½-3/4 of plants, which I realize makes it hard to want to harvest them. In irrigated corn fields, particularly those that had quite a bit of premature ear droop, watch stalk integrity and also integrity of the ear shank attachment where it connects to the ear; consider earlier harvest in those fields. Soybeans do need nearly two inches of moisture when leaves turn yellow. However, that moisture can come from a combination of soil moisture reserves and irrigation, so it doesn’t mean you need to irrigate two more inches.

Couple things about pastures: make note if you’re seeing cattle avoiding any grass in them. I’ll share more on that next week. Also, a quick note that with the shortage of grass, cattle may be getting higher quantities of nitrate-rich weeds. Had a couple people reporting losses to me, so please be aware of this.

Grazing Corn Residue: Received numerous questions on grazing non-irrigated corn residue with stalks most likely high in nitrates. Cattle will go for the ear, husk, leaf first. I realize some of these fields have essentially no ears (for either ear or husk); the cattle will still graze leaves before stalks. Rarely do leaves have high nitrates. You can always test to be sure. Then get them off before they graze the lowest 12” of stalk. There’s also field situations where these ‘nubbin’ ears are spongy, have tiny kernels and aren’t threshing, so there may be more grain on the ground than one realizes. Hopefully the following info. isn’t needed, but sharing in case. Anything above 8-10 bu/ac on the ground needs a well-planned grazing strategy. How do you know? An ‘average’ corn ear would be considered about one bushel an acre loss, so do your best to estimate how many of these tiny ears would equate that. There’s a couple of ways to measure the area to determine grain on the ground. One way is to take your combine width in rows (8 rows, etc.), then measure one one-hundredth of an acre and count the ears in the area on the ground. Another way is to take 3 100-foot counts in three different areas of the field. Take the total number of ears (again consider a ‘normal’ ear size), divide by two, and that would give you an approximate bushel per acre loss.

One can adapt cattle to grain by feeding two to three pounds per day and slowly move up to 10-15 pounds per day over approximately 10-14 days. Turn cattle out that are full and make sure plenty of fresh water is readily available. Also consider feeding high quality hay as a supplement. For those with plants that were two foot or less on field edges that you didn’t run a combine through, perhaps consider fencing out those field edges? Also, while a frost does release prussic acid from sorghum species, frost does not release nitrates from corn plants/stalks.

Last Alfalfa Cutting: I think most in the area have finished last cutting of alfalfa. If you’re still considering it, alfalfa needs at least 6 weeks before the first average killing frost which can range from 24-27F due to plant height, stress, portions of plant affected, topography, etc. Research has shown that cutting during that resting period can increase the chances of winterkill and also reduce the first cutting of alfalfa the subsequent year. To be safe, that last cutting should be taken for our area by mid-Sept. even though I realize some have made it to early Oct. in the past. If you have quite a bit of regrowth and are in need of forage, another option is to cut or graze the alfalfa anytime after waiting a week after a killing frost.

Husker Harvest Days is this week! A number of topics will be covered in the Big Red Building where Extension, Curtis, and LEAD are located. The pesticide safety educators will be in the Hospitality Tent near NDA and will be doing respirator fit tests. If that’s something someone in your operation needs, please bring the respirator for the fit test. The TAPS team will be doing the crop skills challenge again in Lot 942 and there’s a student and non-student competition each day. Events include pest ID, grain moisture/yield estimates, plot imagery ID, and water use efficiency. There’s prize money each day of $250 gift card for 1^st place, $150 for second and $100 for third.

As I re-read what I wrote, I realize this column was heavy with sharing about problems for awareness. Grateful we’re nearing the end of this crop season! Wishing everyone safety and all the best in finishing out this year!