Listen to this weeks KTIC Radio Extension Corner:
This is Dr. Nathan Mueller, your local agronomist with Nebraska Extension for Dodge and Washington counties. This morning I wanted to share with the results from my second annual Dodge County crop yield tour. The tour is conducted during the first week of September and includes stopping at 17 corn fields and 17 soybean fields along a determined route in Dodge County. Last year during this tour my estimates ended up being within 2 bu/ac of the final average yield for both corn and soybeans.
The Dodge County 2016 corn preharvest yield estimate was 184 bu/ac, which is down 13 bushels from a year ago. Irrigated and dryland yields averaged 212 and 167 bu/ac respectively. Irrigated yields were 3 bu/ac higher while dryland was 21 bu/ac short of 2015. This was largely driven by having 2,200 fewer ears per acre compared to last year. Much of this reduction came from seedling dampening off in May and then the green snap from the July 5 storm. Fortunately we managed to put more rows of kernels on the ears early this season with an average of 17.0 rows, compared to last year’s 15.7 rows of kernels. Ear length was similar to a year ago. Given the extra heat units in June and portions of July, the corn averaged 3/4 milk line versus 1/3 milk line in 2015.
The 2016 soybean preharvest yield estimate was 62 bu/ac for the county, up 4 bu/ac from a year ago. Irrigated and dryland soybean yields were 70 and 57 bu/ac. Compared to last year, beans were found to have more pods. The county average was up nearly 100 pods per 1/10,000 of an acre from 2015, averaging 602. However, yield estimates were dampened by slightly smaller seed size and fewer seeds per pod. Maturity was only slightly ahead of 2015 and the amount of lodging was similar to a year ago.
Chad Moyer and I discussed the results of my tour from Husker Harvest Days. You can listen to the interview at our website, croptechcafe.org. To read the full report and learn about the methods used during the preharvest crop yield tour including how-to videos, please visit our locally-focused website at croptechcafe.org or give me a call at 727-2775. Know your crop, know your tech, know your bottom line. This is Dr. Nathan Mueller, your local agronomist for Nebraska Extension on KTIC radio.
Link to the 2016 Dodge County Yield Tour Report
