Iowa farmer mindful of stalk integrity going into harvest


By Filed Under: Crops, Iowa, News

Farmers in drought-affected areas are mindful of stalk integrity going into harvest.

Kelly Nieuwenhuis grows corn and soybeans in northwest Iowa and tells Brownfield some of his farms received less than seven total inches of rain between March and September.

“That plant is amazing (because) it will do anything and everything to fill that ear, and sometimes it will sacrifice its stalk to finish filling the ear. So that’s mainly what we want to do is get some of that corn done.”

He says he treated many of his fields with fungicide during the growing season.

“Those will probably be the (fields) we let sit a little longer just because the plant health is better. But we do some scouting and check fields, and if we see any stalk quality issues those are the ones we want to start with.”

Nieuwenhuis says despite extreme drought conditions, good genetics and late summer rains have him thinking yields will be about average.