The Field Report

Trent Brandenburg’s earliest-planted corn is “about a week away” from drying below 25% moisture. At that level, he could lower his drying expense at the grain elevator. “Now, if there’s an incentive…, ” Trent indicated that an elevator offering a special on drying could get some of his early corn if the incentive was big enough. The Illinois August rainfall was 4.43 inches, 0.87 inches above normal, not good for field dry-down nearing harvest. So Trent has to decide to dry or not, and when to start harvest.

Experienced farm operators like Trent are always balancing variables such as whether (or how much) drying expense to incur in order to maximize crop return. The timing of harvest operations enters into the value judgement. Will there be a weather delay to the harvest? Might there be a dalay in getting parts for a harvest machinery repair? There are many decisions like this between the act of faith in planting seeds in the spring to taking the elevator check to the bank in the fall.