Summer heat has finially arrived! The daily highs for the week have consistently remained in the 90’s, and we are in need of a rain. The majority of our crop has been fortunate to recieve small, yet timely rains over the last 6 weeks… however, the crops in northern Macon county have not been blessed with the same rainfall pattern. Our corn in that area is showing signs of stress due to the heat, yet we hope the plant is far enough along in maturity that the negative impacts will be minimized. Projects have continued to be tackled around the farm…. the scale and digital display systems have been installed for our dry fertilizer complex’s loadout hopper, roadsides have been mowed, lime is currently being hauled to field sites and prepartions for the 2014 crop are being made. We had the opportunity to take another aerial tour last week, and the crop’s overall condition appears to be slightly in decline. We have noticed more nitrogen defficiency (yellow corn) due to the heavy, spring rains. Although we pulled pre-sidedress nitrate tests (PSNT’s) and adjusted our sidedress rates accordingly, we have still noticed some areas showing signs of loss. This is disappointing, yet the volumes of water recieved was significant. Identifying and photographing these areas will prove valuable information for our post-harvest yield reivew with our agronomist. Over the coming weeks, harvest equipment will continue to be prepared, grain bins serviced and lime/liquid fertilizer hauled to field sites and our storage.
